A New Single from The Chris Vandalay Project
A new single from The Chris Vandalay Project delivers a vast but very classic rock-influenced soundscape and along with that you have a sort of detailed message and certain parts of the song that let you paint vivid pictures in your head as it plays out but it's all delivered with this kind of character and this is more of what you end up getting attached to in the first place.
"Better Than Before" gives off such a lush rock tonality but it all comes through with an almost dreamy undertone but then again, that could be because of the lyrics as well.
Again, there is a vastness to this track that gives it this almost freeing and open space with chords that chug along and give it rhythm but with open chords over that especially in the choruses and this adds layers to the song so that it has this certain kind of depth to it.
What are the things that I love about this track are the key and synth work on it because this adds that almost experimental or even psychedelic element to it much used in classic rock music in the '70s and this is part of what nails that aesthetic down so well but you can also hear other influences in there too for example, some of this song makes me think of artists like Tom Petty.
There is something ambient and spacious about this track and if you listen to it with headphones on it can pull you away from your surroundings and put you in a different place altogether, which is something that I adore because you don't come across that too often.
The way this track was recorded and mixed is something I have to touch on because it was done well to nail down that sound that it was meant to have and the balance of everything dynamically is damn near perfect with textures that blend with both natural and digital instruments so that you have an atmosphere that you end up naturally falling right into.
It seems that Chris is performing most or all of the instruments on this song and he of course wrote the track but I'm not sure if he was involved with the mix. It seems like that would be the case because while you watch the music video you get glimpses of him in the recording process laying down tracks on guitar, bass, and keys and it gives you the idea that he is doing all the performing, which is a little bit mind-blowing if you ask me simply because it's hard to grasp the idea of one person having a vision for a song and then going to bring that to fruition.
The music video is a lyric video but it does show images that go along with some of the lyrics giving you a little push, however your imagination does end up picturing a lot of things in your head so that the song ends up connecting very well.
Most important is that character that is delivered because it's that sort of persona that really gives the song a life and this track is packed with it.
This was a song that clearly came from someplace real and invokes memories of your own to pop into your head at random making it seem like at certain points, the song was written just for you or someone you know even though you know it wasn't.
This is also something you don't come across often so when you do it's almost refreshing.
The whole aesthetic of this track has a certain kind of soul to it and does indeed bear influences of genuine classic rock and the kind of music that Chris grew up listening to.
All of this shines through in this track alone.
Again, try listening to the song with headphones on so you can soak in all the notes that float through the song's ether at different times and pick up on what's being sung lyrically.
A great track from Chris Vandalay.
