Off Kilter Kountry

[rayc]

Ah, there's a story of course.
A chap in BIAB land wrote a piece with melody carried by a steel guitar. He wrote it for a friend who had had her relationship cast in doubt.The melody spoke words to me in line with the narrative so I asked to write them for him.
That done I also extended the piece to allow a solo etc.
Unfortunately, at the moment, Alan hasn't found a woman to sing it so I had to do a guide version with LOTS of FX.

Oh, Kilter came from my mid 20s nick name of "Killer" becasue I broke a bloke's knee in a football match...with my head as I tackled him. That name was often distorted, after a few too many beers after a football match, to Kilter.
(c) 2022 Alan D. David, BMI / Ray Cochrane
Here's my mix - it has less rhythm section action and the verse splits to feature piano and then steel. - I had the vocals as sorted as I could get them and sent the stems to Alan who mixed and mastered to his tastes as above...
This one won't suffer the Souncloud crush which may help.


What About Tomorrow?

You and I see differently:
The same things, not the same way,
And we do that readily,
Living through these days.
But what will come to be,
When attitudes have hardened?
When you don't look at me?
(You got) More than your bargained for.

But what about tomorrow?
What will we share?
Will it be loneliness,
At a table laid bare?

Once we'd react spontaneously:
Open to the day.
You kissed, this morning, differently,
In oh so many ways.
But what will come to be,
When eye contact is guarded?
When you don't talk to me?
(We've had) More than we bargained for.

But what about tomorrow?
What will we be?
Will it be loneliness,
Of you or me, not we?

You and I feel differently:
Similar things, not the same way.
Now we pretend so easily,
Lying through each day.
What will this come to be,
When feelings have hardened?
You & I don't make a we,
(We got) More than we bargained for.

But what about tomorrow?
What will we share?
Will it be loneliness
At a table laid bare?

[Lt. Bob]

If part of the reason to listen to this is the lyrics, my ears can't make them out ..... with the FX and the shy level on the vox, I can't discern the words.
Also if the steel is a major part of this, I'd mix it a bit louder.

[rayc]

If part of the reason to listen to this is the lyrics, my ears can't make them out ..... with the FX and the shy level on the vox, I can't discern the words.
Also if the steel is a major part of this, I'd mix it a bit louder.

@Lt. Bob
I didn't mix it but I can hear what you're getting at.
The FX were just tuning and reverb. I did some harmonies, particularly in the chorus, and they seem to have been tucked behind the main vocal and centred giving a halo effect that adds to the reverb washout.
I'll let Alan know.
Thanks.

[Tadpui]

This is great! Yeah I'm having trouble making out the lyrics, but it kind of fits in that early 2000s indie vibe when all they did was bury vocals. I dig the vibe. I suspect that's SoundCloud doing its shenanigans on the high frequencies, making them washy. I hate their encoder, it seems to do that to most of the songs posted there.

Other than having him bring up the vocal a bit, have him try putting an EQ on the vocal reverb to help the K sounds from catching the reverb. It's a great song, and what I caught of the lyrics were very good.

[rayc]

This is great! Yeah I'm having trouble making out the lyrics, but it kind of fits in that early 2000s indie vibe when all they did was bury vocals. I dig the vibe. I suspect that's SoundCloud doing its shenanigans on the high frequencies, making them washy. I hate their encoder, it seems to do that to most of the songs posted there.

Other than having him bring up the vocal a bit, have him try putting an EQ on the vocal reverb to help the K sounds from catching the reverb. It's a great song, and what I caught of the lyrics were very good.

@Tadpui,
ta mate.
Lyrics are in the OP as is my mix(unmastered) of the track.
I'll try you suggestions tomorrow.

[Mr Clean]

I like this as well. I think you need to have a little more faith in your singing Ray and hold back on so much fx and bring them up a bit. A nice crystal clear vocal with a hint of reverb would be great on the lush soundscape mix of instruments. Sadly, a lot of what you're singing is really lost in translation unless you're reading the lyrics and that's not always possible.

I agree with Tadpui. It has a very 90s Shoegaze feel about it.

[TripleM]

I can't add much to what has already been said. The instrument bed sounds pretty good. I like the pedal steel on the left - sounds really good.

But the vocal is difficult to make out thru all the reverb/delay/etc.