Denver (US) artist, Wash Park, has just released his second single, There’s Still Time, following a great success with his debut single earlier this year. We’ve been taking a listen to There’s Still Time, here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today and we’re hooked!
There’s Still Time starts on some fun and unique sounding stereo pads before adding in some lo-fi electric drums.
When the vocals come in, we all realise that everything about this track, from the instrumentation and styling, to the vocalist himself, reminded us very strongly of the great Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. We’re huge fans of OMD so Wash Park ticked many boxes for us here.
Wash Park is the sole project of Keaton Dean, on vocals, all instruments and production. There’s Still Time is a song about finding your true self. The line “it doesn’t have to be this way, there’s still time to change” is a call to action to the listener and one which gives a real positive feel good vibe to the lyrics.
There’s some lovely reverbs and delays on the vocal track here, making it sound truly authentic 80s and with lots of constantly changing instrumentation and the odd sound effect, There’s Still Time, stands up well to several listens.
We like the stereo melody in the break down that leads into a simple guitar solo which switches up as it progresses and just as you head into the fade out, the guitar playing jumps several gears and really takes control with some super-fast precision licks.
From a production perspective, a boost around 90Hz would give the kick drum sound some more thickness and warmth. A high shelf boost set at around 8kHz for some extra brightness, something usually very prominent in 80s electronic music of which this is a perfect example. The overall track is a little quiet so a light compressor/limiter on the master with some make up gain (5dB?) would be advantageous.
For lovers of OMD, Human League, Depeche Mode or Ultravox this is a stand out track that we recommend adding to your playlist immediately. Wash Park was a new name to us today, but this is a real stand out track that has put him well and truly on the map.