VUOLA is the psychedelic prog/rock project of a Jussi Vuola. We reviewed his debut single recently and we’re happy to be listening to his latest single today. To remind our readers, Vuola is a Finnish drummer, producer and studio manager. We’ve been taking a listen to his second single, Laugh Vivid Often Adore Unity, today at the Send Me Your Ears Studio.
Laugh Vivid Often Adore Unity is a 6 minute epic prog rock track that just keeps building all the way through. Starting gently on some beautifully recorded acoustic guitar and ending with a full rock band sound, LVOAU is a huge song and one which may well appeal to fans of Led Zeppelin.
The gentle acoustic guitar and vocal continue until the full band sound comes in at around 1m15s. There’s some lush harmonies and layered vocals and some nice long synth like flute notes, reminiscent of the start of Strawberry Fields.
Throughout the song, you can hear that Vuola is heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin. There is even a section in the middle that could have been lifted from Stairway to Heaven. Perhaps a nod to his heroes?
The production on Laugh Vivid Often Adore Unity is similar to that of Under Above Orion Venus Loves and therefore our comments are pretty similar. Filtering out anything below 40Hz would be a good idea to reduce some rumble in the track, as well as aboost around 200-250Hz for some extra warmth. A boost centred around 7kHz for brightness, air and definition will help balance everything out a little more smoothly.
It is very clear that Vuola has an excellent voice. We commented on his vibrato on the previous track and we stand by this again. The reverbs used on his voice, however, have rather muddied up the overall sound of the voice making the track a little boxy and middley. We’d suggest a dip around 700-800 to help alleviate this, but also a change from the cathedral reverb this has to more of a bright hall, perhaps. This should improve some clarity in the vocals.
Another great offering from Vuola and a repeated pat on the back to him from us for his work with Unicef. A very talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who clearly has a great deal of passion for avant-garde classic rock.