| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 9 |
| Interest | 8 |
| Melody | 9 |
| Performance | 9 |
| Lyrics | 9 |
| Enjoyment | 10 |
| Recording Quality | 9 |
| Commercial Appeal | 8 |
| Overall | 8.9 |
Whatever your view about how the internet has affected the music industry, either negatively or positively, there is at least one area where it has helped the unsigned musician that cannot be denied. Online collaborations! Thanks to the Web we have been able to see and hear many great (and not so great) musical pairings that otherwise would have been improbable, unfeasible and likely rather expensive, if not altogether impossible. Now though, it is easy to combine your talents with those of musicians all around the world thanks to sites like Mp3unsigned.com. A quick scout through the 'New Mp3's' section will usually turn up one collaboration or another on most pages. Having dabbled in a few myself, I can vouch that the process of online collabing can be fun, challenging, rewarding and produce results that in many cases would not have been possible by working alone.
So, that brings me on to this track then. Here we have a track which is a perfect example of what I am talking about. A collab between a Gal from Kent in the UK (Essence) and a Guy from Indiana in the US (Kurt Harley). Without this site, these two would probably have never even made contact let alone made music together.
Essence has recently been signed to a Drum n' Bass label, but here we find her showing a completely different side to her talents. Made just over a year ago, this song features the acoustic guitar playing of Kurt and the vocals of Essence. I don't know in which order these came about, but I would hazard a guess that Kurt wrote and recorded the music first and that Essence wrote and recorded the vocals later as I know this usually is the way with these things. That said, on listening to this song you would not be given any audible clues that the writing process was in anyway disjointed. The music and lyrics fit together perfectly and sound as if the people writing them were sitting in a room together at the same time with the same mindframe not on opposite sides of the Atlantic to each other.
At the heart of this song is a common theme, the ending of a relationship. Lyrically, Essence has captured the conflicting emotions of the subject brilliantly. "How can I move on without you there by my side, arms open wide? I will miss you". Again I'm not sure if this song was written from personal experience or not but it certainly sounds convincing and not in any way contrived or cliched. The vocal performance too is full of emotion and vulnerability and is captured perfectly. The song sounds to me, both in chord structure and melody, very similar to the style of one of my favourite songwriter's, Noel Gallagher. In particular a song called 'Talk Tonight'. So much so in fact that I could just imagine Noel singing this song.
The sound quality of both the acoustic guitar and the vocals is excellent and the mix sounds just about right. I suppose if I was being picky you could argue that the arrangement could use additional instruments or vocal harmonies for musical interest, but to be honest, when a song is written and performed as well as this, you don't really need or miss them.
As I said earlier, this track is a perfect example of what is so great about the practice of online collaboration. It is a song that I have listened to many times over the past year or so, and it has not waned in my opinion whatsoever. Indeed, I recently included it in a list of my personal favourite tracks from this site. Anyone who has not heard this track previously would be well advised to give it listen or ten.
Craig
To listen to the track Click Here