Tonight - New song

Here's one i finished recently.
I'm pretty happy with the horn programming (NI's Session Horns Pro).
Drums: Addictive Drums, Amp Sims: Amplitube.
 
I played the piano live (except for the last chorus, which was improvised by the engineer mixing the song).  It's kinda "plunky," but that's actually what I'm going for.  And that's the story i'm sticking to...  Everything except that last chorus piano was recorded at home on SPLAT.
 
Any thoughts or critiques are very welcome.
 
https://soundcloud.com/user-809364146/tonight
 

Everything sounded great.  Really liked the sound of the *parlour* piano.

Sounds great on my laptop, which is probably better playback equipment than most folks are using these days.  More importantly, it's a good song, your singing is perfect for it, and the brass experiment totally works.

Thanks Larry!
 

DeeringAmps
Very nice!
My only critical thought; your guitar is "walking" on the vocal a little in the verses.
I am listening on my Bose headphones, not exactly "flat", so it may be they're hyping that a bit.
Hendrix liked to "double" the vocal with guitar in his bluesy tunes (think Voodoo Child Slight Return).
All in all well done.
I'll have to take a closer look at NI Horn's Pro, I'm slowly learning how to use keyswitches.
Your mixer is a pretty good pianist.
 
T
 

Thanks Deering.
I wondered if the guitar might conflict with the vocals.  It's probably because I don't play and sing at the same time, and then am overly familiar with every track.  I like both parts, and was hoping i could get away with it.
 
And yes, John did a fantastic job with that last chorus. It was one of those "do you mind if I try something?" moments, and he improvised that in one take with no planning.  He's done that on most of my songs, either on piano or saying "try singing THIS as a background," and really pushes my songs that little bit better than I can do myself.

emeraldsoul
Original as heck. Agreed on the vocal/guitar battle. I'd  push the vocal up. I get the bowie! I'm  not in love with the horns but I do like that trombone patch. Horns are so darn tough and the NI one's are middle of the road in my opinion. You might check vintage horns 2 or blue street brass. Cheap but effective !
 
I really liked the song and kept hearing it as some mid-80's ska thing, like if Madness played a slow one. Has a nice bounce to it.
 
Cheers, 
- Tom 

HAHAHAHA, I just grabbed a guitar and tried it as ska. IT WORKED!
Thanks for the compliment, and the horn synth suggestions, i'll look into them.

Hey Slug dude, this is a great expression of your inner self.
 
I especially love the vocals, you show a of of confidence in yourself, along with a sense of abandon, and a hint of "devil may care."
 
Really nice at 4:01, and rips hard at 4:35!
 
jqs
 
 

I liked it. Very cool tune. I agree about the guitar overpowering the vocal just a touch in spots, but otherwise thought it was great!

biodiode
I liked the song and glad it wasn't just me that got the Madness vibe out of this, although I might be a little mad myself  If you looking for something a little different in the horn department take a listen to Output's new analog brass and winds https://output.com/products/analog-brass-and-winds
 

 
Thanks Biodiode.  I was never a Madness fan, but maybe it brings out some of my influences that were similar or influenced them.  The beauty of music - there's such a huge menu that we can evolve to a similar style through many different musical mixes.
 
 

Jesse Screed
Hey Slug dude, this is a great expression of your inner self.
 I especially love the vocals, you show a of of confidence in yourself, along with a sense of abandon, and a hint of "devil may care."
 Really nice at 4:01, and rips hard at 4:35!
 
jqs
 

 
Thanks Jesse.  Considering the song was about abandoning the 'devil may care' attitude, I'm glad it made it into the performance.  

Vilovilo
Cool stuff,
Great job,
My feeling is that with all thoose tools we have at our disposal,we sometime get lost...
I miss the time we took a guitar and sang a song ...and listen to others do the same..
We all try to make radio ready hits ,but to my ears it makes that ,at the end,I am not anymore able to make the difference between one song and another.
I hear catchy things in your voice and in the global direction of your song but I get somewhat drowned in this ocean of informations ,horns,guitars,drums,panning,compressing,eq ing and so on :-)
Something of Aimee Mann to my ears in this tune.
Agree with above, a smalll conflict between guitars and voice.
Sorry for the comments wich are not directly related with your specific work ,a very good one to my ears.
Cheers.
Olivier.
Edit. To my ears,the voice a little bit more " in your face" maybe?
Re edit , not louder,just a little bit more up front.( thinking how about Aimee Mann did the trick...)

Thanks Vilo.  I agree with you - there's something special about a sparse arrangement.  "Tonight" is part of an album that took 6 years to complete.  I tried the project in many ways, including just a simple guitar or piano with vocals, and every different version brought up new ideas that often stayed when I rearranged it for a different style.  I just couldn't NOT include all the fiddly bits!  Must be the Ferry/Roxy Music influence that makes me over-complicate things.  

Leadfoot
I liked it. Very cool tune. I agree about the guitar overpowering the vocal just a touch in spots, but otherwise thought it was great!

Thanks Leadfoot.

sven450
Nice, but I want more vocal!  Singing is original and interesting, and needs to come up a bit to be central to the song. right not the rhythm is more prevalent and relevant.

Thanks Sven.  I've never thought of myself as a singer, and usually bury my vocals because of that insecurity/distaste.  I try to keep that in mind, but it doesn't always stick.

Cool song, I definitely hear some early Bowie in there (the Prettiest Star, Time, etc.)  You just need some Wah on your guitar to get the Mick Ronson sound:)  The horns are very good, mix good.   I like your vocals too.  The only "crit" I would throw out is the intro is a little long.    Overall, like it.
 
Regards

Steve & Mark,
Thanks for listening.  Obviously Bowie is a big influence.  And that 'spitty' trombone part always made me laugh, but once it was there i couldn't remove it.