Level

Lot of great comments here. Love the ‘set it and forget it’ dynamics. Small lyrical worlds are my favorite places, and this one is especially pleasant. My mixing notes are primarily on the programmed drums, which just inherently can’t match the mangled humanity of the rest of the song, and which more importantly will become moot when you get a live drummer (I know a guy) on this puppy and send it into the rockosphere. Cheers, mdude.

welp, still listening to this one…

Yes. Omg. I think this is my favorite song of yours. It’s like Third Eye Blind without all the elements that can make that band annoying. I’m such a sucker for songs with emo elements that don’t take themselves too seriously. I would have thought those sustained vocal notes would weigh the chorus down, but they do the exact opposite. There is so much space, height, movement, and lightness. The small lyrical world is a huge part of that, but it’s more than just the words themselves, it’s the vocal delivery across the board that is soo beautifully light. The repeating jangly, bendy guitars and the little xylophone bits (?) absolutely kill me. And the piano in the bridge. I love how the whole song comes in hot from the get-go 3 seconds in and it kind of stays there. I could go on. I’m obsessed, well done.

“the fuck” after the instrumental is blissful. mix is awesome. if anything I would like a tiny bit more stereo wideness but that might be me getting greedy. agree with Chris, single track vocals are v scary (for me at least) and you pulled them off flawlessly.

Yeup. Yup. I love this song, Ryan. The guitar sounds sooo dang good – love the glock-touches brightening up the place. The chorus vocals take me so high – Like riding a bike down a big hill when I was a kid or something – there’s just so much air in this song and I am here for it. That is to say, the spacing you’ve created in the mix is really working for me.
The lyrics are really sweet – what a nice thing to make for someone. Have been bumping this big time the past two days.
Also, love the idea that you’re taking the single track vocal risk – I get that anxiety – They sound great.
-C

I keep coming back and listening to this. While the lyrics are delightful every time the production is pretty perfect, I think you did a great job mixing this. I would say you accomplished the balance between clarity and everything-in-a-blender pretty spot on so if that’s what you are working on, props to you!

Hey man, this is one of my favorites of your songs. I love a lot of songs that are all, or primarily, the I and IV chord*, but I think it takes care to make that harmony feel fresh and exciting, and this definitely does. I really like the vocal phrasing and delivery. I think comparisons always risk implying things beyond the original sentiment, but knowing you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt here, I have a lot of love for a few emo bands, and this obviously isn’t emo music, but it has the directness and openness that I love about emo, but the story is a grown up story instead of an adolescent one. And yeah, in my opinion you can put any size story in any size song. I think the hardest to pull off is probably a huge story set to huge music. I hope to eventually here this one in the context of an album!
(*first three I-IV songs that came to mind were “Banshee Beat” Animal Collective, “Marry Me” St. Vincent, “The First Song” Band of Horses.

Daddy loves me a Krezbot guitar solo. Especially in the middle of a great song like this one.
Your doing something different vocally here on the verses that I can’t pinpoint but that I love! Maybe it’s that the voice feels a little smaller, more constrained, matching the world of the lyrics.

dude this was ROCKIN. big fan of the specific, small-world themes and lyrics juxtaposed a grand colorful ecosystem. Doesnt feel juxtaposed – feels playful and authentic. and the lyrics are sung BIG. works well.

yeah pretty stoked on where you took this lyrically, really enjoyed listening to this

I do like this juxtaposition of “clarity and everything-in-a-blender” thing you got goin on here, Shaw. I think the vocals kind of distract your ear from noticing how much is going on instrumentally until it hits the chorus “less wine” part. That part kind of molds with the instrumentation, further back in the mix a tad, which is cool. I think the vocals in the verse sections can stand out even more. Maybe it’s just a simple gain nudgle on those, but maybe something else I dunno. Nice work, daddy likey.

Way to upgrade from one chord to two. If we’re talking stats, notice that my title actually had two more syllables than yours.

You know I could (and will, in person) go on about the emotional impact of this knowing you, your family, and it’s total mass in your oeuvre.

I know that this is funny not because we’ve been mates along time, but because I’m confident that “get beers and go back to work” is something Chaucer would laugh at.

Way to ask for precise feedback:

Definitely like the small lyrical world with big musical colors. Although it’s not really “small” so much as it’s compact and high-impact, which is really a strong suit of yours. In fact I think what you wrote is like, one of the strongest possible approaches you could take.

Amazing job as always.
Love,
– Z