Here at the Send Me Your Ears Studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Venusia. Think Peace, released on June 2nd, 2023, is a catchy pro-peace anthem that will stick in your head for days.
Think Peace has a positive, feel-good, Travelling Wilburys feel at the start. Think “Handle With Care”. The song already feels at this point as though it is going to be a great listen.
When the vocals come in they are clear and present, joined shortly by female harmonies who then take the lead on the second verse, which gives the song a great diversity and plenty for the listener to get their teeth sunk deeply into. The two vocalists are very different styles but blend together well during the harmony sections. There are several times in the song that the male vocals reminded us very much of late Rush era (think Snakes and Arrows period).
We love the choir of vocals that come in in the choruses, and the playful little non-word vocal sections will undoubtedly have audiences singing along in no time.
A country-picked riff-based guitar solo displays the band’s musicianship and is a very nice touch, making the song cross a genre or two along the way. It is a simple but perfectly executed solo with great tone and note composition.
The rise and fall within the track is also executed well, and the repeated “Think Peace” line to the end (ending on “Be Peace” – clever) doesn’t feel repetitive at any time, thanks to some clever instrumentation and changes of pace throughout the build to the end.
Ideas from our ears
Aside from the vocal track, there is not a lot going on in the middle-range frequencies, making the track feel a little hollow in places. A great way to add some middle without boosting the vocal would be to use a single band compressor in the 300Hz-3kHz range and adding some make up gain. In terms of general equalisation, a wide boost across the lower frequencies with an additional boost around 125Hz could add some extra warmth and thickness to the low end. Finally, a boost in the top octave could increase the overall brightness and sparkle. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Think Peace really is a catchy and bouncy little song that is a touch quirky, but charming in its delivery. An utterly charming song with words to live by. Highly recommended.
https://www.facebook.com/thevenusiaproject/
https://twitter.com/VenusiaProject
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3NHzQ0tT9JZR7ZKAYnjYZu
https://venusia.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@thevenusiaproject
https://www.instagram.com/venusia_project/
https://soundcloud.com/venusiaproject
https://www.venusiaband.com/