[Andyb]

we are putting out an EP in the next couple of weeks with some acoustic reworkings / re-recordings of some of our hard rock (ish) songs. We wanted something unique on the EP however and set about writing a new song. What we came up with is Wounds, a sort of acoustic / electronic song. Quite different from our usual sound I would really appreciate your feedback. We are in the process of getting some CDs made however this song might make it on to our album later in the year but we may remix / re-record with a more full band sound / harder edge

https://soundcloud.com/the-signal-fires/wounds

lyrics are as follows:

Clawing at your front door
With a heart thats run its course
I am torn and I am broken underneath

I am not your friend
I am not your enemy
In the space between these walls
We learned to speak

So you twist and turn
but you'll never learn
what I means to lose
I shouldnt take this lying down
but I had to choose

Showing our intention
As we crawl towards the edge
Could we stand or see it break beneath our feet

This is not my choice
But its is not against my will
I could bend or I could break it if you ask

So you twist and turn
but you'll never learn
what I means to lose
I shouldnt take this lying down
but I had to choose

When you cut and run
But the wound still burns
Is it mine or yours
I couldn't make you change your mind
If i wanted to


Dont put your blame on me
Its not a reason to agree
Well Bridge the distance in between
Another chance and we could make back from here

So you twist and turn
but you'll never learn
what I means to lose
I shouldnt take this lying down
but I had to choose

When you cut and run
But the wound still burns
Is it mine or yours
I couldn't make you change your mind
If i wanted to

[pompeyjazz]

I think this is really good Andy and thats because your excellent vocals are highlighted.  I get what you're saying about an acoustic track but  I reckon this would work very well as a 50/50 song with a massive thrash that rocks the gonads off after the first verse and chorus. Just the big surprise factor ? Then you could jump back into acoustic land again. Excellent   

[Skub]

Yo Andy.

It's a fine song and very well sung.

To my ears it's more modern country rather than rock,but the lines are blurred between those two genres these days.

Zat you singing? A very engaging voice,I'm envious. 

The only thing that jars with me is the kick drum...like it's wandered in from a dance track. I also think because of that type of music,we are programmed to expect a big lift when we hear the 'doof,doof' and then feel let down when it doesn't happen. I'd agree some sort of percussion needs to be coming and going in there,but I'm not convinced after a couple of plays,the doof is the solution.

That opinion aside,I really enjoyed the listen,quality stuff. 

[Andyb]

Thanks pompey
this is the version that got sent to the CD manufacturer, due to a ridicluous schedule we put upon ourselves I never really heard the final mix until it was too late. There are bits I might have done differently for sure but sometimes when you are too close to a project you cant be objective. This is why this forum is so useful to me.

[Andyb]

Yo Andy.

It's a fine song and very well sung.

To my ears it's more modern country rather than rock,but the lines are blurred between those two genres these days.

Zat you singing? A very engaging voice,I'm envious.  

The only thing that jars with me is the kick drum...like it's wandered in from a dance track. I also think because of that type of music,we are programmed to expect a big lift when we hear the 'doof,doof' and then feel let down when it doesn't happen. I'd agree some sort of percussion needs to be coming and going in there,but I'm not convinced after a couple of plays,the doof is the solution.

That opinion aside,I really enjoyed the listen,quality stuff.  

cheers skub we really fancied trying something with a more electronic backing track just to step outside our comfort zone. I appreciate the comments though. This will be what's on the EP but a different version will probably make it on to our album so these comments are extremely valuable.

And yes it is me singing thanks, quite low in my register im usually about an octave above this but I thought it suited the song

[pompeyjazz]

That's a ShItter man when you're chasing those Cds down the road. Anyway I think its an excellent piece of work. Please share the links to your CD 

[adamfarr]

I got a Counting Crows vibe from the (excellent!) vocal and I could hear this in more of the style of one of their more anguished ballads (Colourblind...?).

I felt fhe drums gave it an electro folk feel which isn't so much my cup of tea but very contemporary (and probably there should be some connection the other songs on the CD).

Lyrics are not very hooky (which may be why I hear more of a ballad) but effective at conveying the wounded and confused emotion.

Cool to hear a different style from you.

[Andyb]

I got a Counting Crows vibe from the (excellent!) vocal and I could hear this in more of the style of one of their more anguished ballads (Colourblind...?).

I felt fhe drums gave it an electro folk feel which isn't so much my cup of tea but very contemporary (and probably there should be some connection the other songs on the CD).

Lyrics are not very hooky (which may be why I hear more of a ballad) but effective at conveying the wounded and confused emotion.

Cool to hear a different style from you.

Thanks Adam, Funnily enough as I was listening through the other tracks I was getting a counting crows, country rock sort of vibe from them. They were a big influence for me a few years back and very different from our current harder rock sound. The song is meant to quite raw, vocally, lyrically and production wise - appreciate the comments, thanks

[S.T.C]

Good song, vocals are nice to the ear....agree it could work as a 'heavy' rock song....FooFighters comes to mind.

[PaulyX]

Hello Andy,
Hopefully you remember how much "Crow" blew me away.
Maybe partly by weight of expectation because of that, this one if I'm honest I found a bit underwhelming.  I know you're trying something very different here, but I found the acoustic guitar strumming a bit monotonous, and to me it felt a bit of a half-way-house that wasn't sure if it wanted to be acoustic and delicate, or more robust and electronic.  I found the electronic touches a bit of a distraction really without them leading to a crescendo.  When you do the album version, my personal instinct would be to go one way or the other... really stripped back and raw, or massive (like "Crow"!).
None the less, plenty of positives, the biggest one for me being your ever-excellent voice.  And the mix is slick and professional as usual too.
Hats off to you all for experimenting outside of your comfort zone.

[Outss]

Got a slight soft rock tone to it.. not my sort of thing but the lyrics are pretty good!

I am not your friend
I am not your enemy
In the space between these walls
We learned to speak

Thats really nice.

[Darren1664]

This song, the tone, atmosphere and lyric really struck with me. This is a lovely stuff and very well performed. The guitar and vocal are great on there own but the percussion etc really takes this to another level. This is one excellent song!

Thank you

Darren

[Andyb]

Really genuinely appreciate the feedback - was so nervous about putting this out, maybe the fact we were having CDs produced and would be asking people to fork out money (not much) to buy. Or the fact that all the parts were performed by me on the track ... to save time mainly. I think there will be a full band version of this coming as per most of your suggestions but for an acoustic EP this seemed to do the job. Thanks again. PS to keep the song unique to the EP the link will disappear soon, I just wantd to get you guys' feedback on it first.

[Cawproductions]

Dudes,
I am defo one of your fans, love this style and your rock stuff too, If you dont get signed somewhere then that just proves that the music industry is a piece of s**t.

Well done guys.

Edit, Just watched the band version of this on youtube again, love it, love to see you guys diving about and totally rockin it. Can totally see your frontman doin this style.
check this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ

Believe me, you guys are good.

[Mverboekend]

Hey Andy,

It's nice to hear an acoustic song from you, your voice is beautiful!

The lyrics and melody are good too, but maybe due to the repeating strumming of the guitar the chorus and verses etc all blend into 1. I like the change in guitar you have around 2:50 which breaks it up a bit.

Still nice song though and curious to hear to full version of it