1st attempt at psychedelia... new song: 'Your Friend'

Hi kitcheners

since covering @vincent_stewart for the covers comp and mucking around with bigger arrangements including some drums and bass, I decided to do something similar with my next original rather than just sticking to my usual acoustic stuff.

@MartiMedia - would appreciate any feedback on the vocals on this one

Its inspired by Tomorrow Never Knows and Its All Too Much by the Beatles, and some Verve and Oasis stuff too (largely the 'Urban Hymns' and 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' albums). And its also a bit of a break from my usual lovey-dovey stuff, something a bit grittier I guess.

All feedback on the vocals, guitars, instrumentation, mix & production are welcome, and dont pull your punches, be honest

James

https://soundcloud.com/jthargreaves/your-friend

LYRICS:

Please don't tell me you love me, If you ever feel that way again
Please don't open your heart up, Just treat me as a friend
Please don't tell me your feelings, If you ever feel them again
I dont want to go round in circles, I only want to be your friend

Please don't worry about me, I'll never say a word
It wont be long til all of this, Is a half-remembered blur
Please don't tell me you love me, If you ever feel that way again
Lets close the chapter, and leave the book, So a new one can begin

Please dont tell me you love me, As time and life go by
Please don't tell me you miss me, It only messes with my mind
We've both had moments of madness, Where we crossed over the line+
We may have shared a secret, But now lets leave it all behind

Please dont worry about me, I'll never tell a soul
Somehow I think we'll be happier, Once the fire has grown cold
So please don't tell me you love me, If the feelings grow again
Please just keep them to yourself, It only messes with my head

Please don't tell me you love me, The way you have before
Please don't open your heart up, And don't show it to me at all
Please don't tell me your feelings, If you ever feel them again
I dont want to go round in circles, I only want to be your friend

Love it  Maybe since I've been going through stuff for my move - I all of a sudden want to find my old lava lamps and black light.

BTW - what ever happened to Oasis?

V

I love it too 

great to hear this, great song

I think the stereo is a bit extreme, the way you placed the isntruments left and right, but I am listening on headphones

and I think your vocal could be a bit more clear, more present eq- / mixwise

but I other than that I loved it, and I notice that the track  sticks to mind directly, I still hear the chorus after one listen

I get the Beatles thing, the direct presence of the chorus

didn't hear Oasis right away...but....mentioning Oasis..

BTW - what ever happened to Oasis?

V

Surely @vincent_stewart  you must have heard by now, they Split 
even via pigeon mail or smoke signals...
because these two brothers had some arguments once in a while.....

and now everyone has been waiting for years now, for them to make up
but that just takes a while....because they are brothers, you know

right? @man of simple pleasures

*but back on topic....(sorry for hijacking this thread)* 

Great song @jameshargreaves 

Great pop song. Your voice reminds me of classic singles from the bubblegum-era.

@it must be me, Dutchbeat? - yeah it was a challenge with the panning, because there was so much on the track. Was hard to find ways to mix it so it wasnt all flat. What would you add the eq sound of the vocals to bring them out more?

And with Oasis - you'd have to listen to tracks from their one and only psychedelic album to hear the connection (called Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants) .

@vincent_stewart - the oasis split was because Liam, the lead singer, was an unbelievable idiot basically. Smashed up his brothers guitar right before a gig after some petty argument, and that was that! Sad times.

@redmando - thanks! (what's the bubblegum era?)

I guess I don't pay much attention to music news. I did like "wonder Wall @it must be me, Dutchbeat? 
(at least I wasn't the last one to catch onto Pokemon  ). Anyways - it is a nice song @jameshargreaves

V

Hey @jameshargreaves ,
As I'm a bit short of time I only listened to the vocal (but the context sounds
beautiful in my ears, great instrumental!).
The vocal sounds great, harmonies are spot on as well imo. That's what I meant
earlier, you can do so much better!
As for me I'm really studying hard the dynamics of singing (singing soft/loud
(depending on the emotion/feelings the lyrics/song want to send)). That's something
I adminre, but in the same time (like everything you admire) is a really
hard thing to master. In this song everything is sung at approx. the same intensity
and imo you do this fantastic. Now you can expiriment and challenge yourself singing
some fragments (of whatever song) louder or quieter than this reference (in this
song you seem to sing in your comfort zone). To me the challenge is to master that
skill but keeping the vocal sound perfectly authentic. I hope that was helpful
and gave you some pointers..
PS The feedback I wrote here doesn't define what's right or wrong. I just throw in
my understanding after trying a lot (and asking feedback to our kitcheners a lot),
but everything is so dependent on your own taste.
Mix-wise I thought I heard the lead vocal more on the right side of the stereo-
field. That may be a creative choice, but I'll always advice to keep the leadvocal
in the dead center.
Well done man, I really enjoyed the listen!
MM

Interesting comments on the dynamics of vocal performance @MartiMedia - something for me to consider too when I get back to recording vocals.

I thought you might not get the reference to bubblegum @jameshargreaves - you look much younger than me, so it's well before your time. It was around 1968, I think, and some of the hits were 1910 Fruitgum Co with "Simon Says", "123 Red light" and "Indian Giver"; Lemon Pipers "Green Tambourine"; Kasenatz-Katz Super Circus "Quick Joey Small"; Ohio Express "Down at Lulu's"; The Archies "Sugar Sugar" and Tommy Roe "Dizzy". Mostly simply catchy melodic songs for a teen/pre-teen audience - great fun pop! "Green Tambourine" is the nearest to psychedelic if you only want to check out one track.

Hi James,
I enjoyed listening to your track.   Love the retro sound and I think you captured it.    If I were to offer anything to help I would say to break it down a little more.    There is a droning guitar in the back which is really nice but I believe it needs to be broken up where it would be more effective when it comes in.     The drums are cool but there may be bit too much reverb as they are getting a little lost.   
Well done and I enjoyed listening to it.
EB

@jameshargreaves I dig this sound! And that's how I would describe it. It has a 'sound'. I found myself being drawn into it. Deep mix and appropriate for what you are going for.