Dane Maxwell – Where I’m Seen
The late 2010s have been a time of awareness for communities around the globe in regards to a litany of issues that previous generations shied away from openly discussing, and in that spirit, Dane Maxwell presents us with his anti-bullying ballad “Where I’m Seen,” a single that owes as much to the era that inspired it as it does the kind heart of the songwriter behind its luster.
Maxwell is the new kid on the pop music block right now, but with output as strong as this is, he won’t remain an underground treasure for very long – as I see it, the bright lights of stardom are beckoning his name even as I write this article now.
Maxwell’s vocal is as physical as this bassline is, and though the two duel for our attention during the chorus, the rest of the song sees them playing in perfect harmony together, and moreover, yielding a melodic undertow in the rhythm that is essential to the track’s magnetizing quality.
The tempo is spaced out between the singing and the string instrumentation in the background, creating a bit of discord in the groove of the drums, but in the song’s climax, every element amalgamates and becomes a singular tour de force that any critic will tell you is more than worth writing home about.
The guitar parts are gentle and rather delicate at the onset of “Where I’m Seen,” but they’re extremely textured and full of the same panache and emotion that the lyrics are as we progress through the track.
This master mix is one of the best examples of proper high definition distributing that you’re going to hear this fall, and had you told me that Maxwell was working with a major label budget instead of operating left of the dial, I would have easily believed you without question. The polish is a nice touch, but I doubt that he needs it to sound as smashing as he does throughout this single.
I would have made the equalization on the instruments just a bit less scooped than it is here, but I can see what Dane Maxwell was going for by minimizing the middle in his sound. With the bass and the treble maxed-out, we get the same scope of his vocal timbre as we would in a live concert, which isn’t easy to achieve by any critical measurement. It makes the strings a little muddy in a couple of the transitions between verses, but it compensates by giving the vocal a lot of additional grandiose that, personally, I think is what makes the song the stadium-shaker that it is.
If you enjoyed Where I’m Seen, check out Dane’s official website by clicking here. Give him a like on Facebook by clicking here & a follow on Twitter by clicking here.
