Need Ala's for new song.

[songmaster]

Hey everyone, Here is a song that John Lewitt put together with Susan Simonson and myself. We are aiming it for film and TV and we can't nail down which artist or band it sounds like. Any suggestions would really help before we can submit it to a library. The song is called "The Last" and it is on soundcloud below. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.

Tom

https://soundcloud.com/john-lewitt/the- ... 671f8259f9

The Last

Through the winter so dark and cold
To the angels of the snow
We'll be sad to see their wings
Melt away in the early spring
But summer comes with longer light
Sandy beaches and starry nights
Then comes the best of all
Watching autumn leaves gently fall
All the colors seep into our lives
As if Van Gogh painted you and I

You'll be the last break in my heart
The last song in my soul
The last face I see
Before I slip into sleep
You'll be the last break in my heart
The last thought on my mind
The last touch I'll need
It's always gonna be, you and me

Every moment this new day holds
Time together we spin to gold
There's no secret between us two
There's no fire we won't walk through
All the nights, we talk away
Loving words turn to great debates
But we solve every tragedy
Till too much wine, sends us off to dream
Oh how funny time can turn to mist
But we'll always be together, oh I know this

Chorus

Bridge

I wouldn't change a thing
Why mess with success
Our love brings certainty
To a life with no regrets

Chorus...end

[AlanHall]

Only half in jest, from the lyric alone, I can tell that this is a modern singer-songwriter tune. I'll listen when I get home from work to hear if I'm even close

[irthlingz]

Maybe John Prine? i.e. basically folk but with a slight country tinge, especially on the vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOg7mAkrKJw

P.S. It should be "angels" - not "angles"

[AlanHall]

Tom,
As promised; I listened. This is what was going through my head as far as "a la"s. This song could be made to sound like whoever you like and are listening to: the Avett brothers, the Lumineers, Simon and Garfunkle, maybe Chris Tomlin, or the Band. What you must do to make it sound like anybody is to decide who (whom?) and then mimic their arrangement and production style so that it does sound like them. Right now it sounds like you, because - frankly, and without malice - it sounds like you recorded what you wanted and then stopped there. No further thought as to what would go into a specific song in a specific genre or playlist because you were happy to get it down in a fixed, tangible form. Good enough for the copyright office, to be sure. Probably close to good enough for an artist demo, but for sync or commercial release it still needs more flesh on its bones. That's all arrangement/production issues. In the 'old days' the record company would assign a producer to you and they'd work out all those details, along with getting the very best performance possible out of you, the artist. In the modern age you have to wear all the hats

An unsolicited comment: I thought the pacing of the vocal delivery made some of the lines garbled. A slower tempo would benefit the vibe of the song, IMHO, and also allow the words to be enunciated more clearly.

[songmaster]

Thanks irthlingz for that ala and also for the Youtube video of John Prine. I think that is a close match.
Thanks Alan for all your comments. Also thank you for the ala's you suggested, which is what we are mainly looking for at this point. They will really help us to narrow down the genre. I also had the Lumineers in mind. Great minds think alike

Tom

[johnlewitt]

Just one thing on a la's. You're never trying to rip someone's sound off completely. A better way of looking at it is "what other artists might this song be on a playlist with?"

[irthlingz]

Another one that this could be pushed towards is Vance Joy, e.g. Missing Piece, which has come up in several recent listings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atka_0TUTLM