Originally Posted by piebaldlady:
“I do love a song that builds, with it all kicking off at the end - Water live being a prime example of my preferred version over the more subtle album recording - when that chest vocal kicks in its wonderful!”
Pie - I know you posted this a couple of weeks ago now, but I just wanted to echo the sentiment! I completely agree about Water live vs Water studio and have meant to use it as an example before. Matt's tendency to use soft falsetto during the first half of a song and then push into his full voice for the climax is something I've always particularly enjoyed - I smile to myself whenever he does it in a new song now, because I can almost
feel my ears being manipulated (in a good way

)! I must say, I'm really hopeful the vocals sound just as dynamic on the studio versions for album 4, because I enjoy where the big moments hit on the live recordings so much.
I'm glad to see the live dates coming through. Unless something closer pops up in the South East I'll be heading to Shoreditch Town Hall

!
I've been reconnecting with The Fire a bit over the last few days. I've typically preferred Matt's less overtly positive-sounding material, but have come to realise there's a very nice, uplifting flow to the album. I do get the feeling that the louder tracks were "brickwalled" a bit at the mastering stage - by which I mean the engineer squashed the sounds together a bit in order to amplify the volume as much as possible - which can be a little fatiguing to listen to at length. But it's been a very nice rediscovery, and there's a real sense of post-Syco liberation!