Tolu Makay, an Irish recording artist whose music boasts a soulful pop sheen, today premieres her new single ‘Ocean’ on the site.
I first caught Makay live, supporting Chris Kabs in the Workman’s Club. She was excellent then and her material seems too elegantly translate into the studio arena – as proven by new single ‘Ocean’.
It’s the artist’s third single release, the first of 2019. Both the previous two, ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Reflection’, have aided the artist in gaining 30,000 monthly listeners. Not a bad feat for an artist with less than 10 minutes of released material under their belt.
‘Ocean’ offers a relatively upbeat arrangement. Clean, crisp guitars flicker and dance, working in tandem with the sharp drum programming. Synth chords, drenched in reverb, provide the tune’s harmonic force. Naturally, the centre stage is occupied by Makay’s vocal delivery. That delivery is pitch-perfect and dynamic, mixed to a sheen.
These arrangement elements might seem almost at odds with the heartbreak tinged lyrical content, but the song remains hopeful, never slipping into the realms of the dour.
It’s feel-good, polished pop music.
