A sparkling production makes the most of Lisa Nicole’s awesome and accomplished vocals on the immediately-accessible Wait On Me. They are mixed front and centre, bright and shiny and with great authentic Southern twang. The lead vocal has a subtle and extremely tight harmony underpinning it, giving it a slick, polished feel that pays dividends straight away – you’re drawn into the narrative of the lyric.
Lisa Nicole also clearly has great control of her instrument – the pushes, falsetto and vibrato are masterful. In an age where vocals can be tweaked and adjusted after the event digitally, it’s very clear that she can really sing.
Ironically, it doesn’t hang about, Wait On Me: it kicks off with an Eastern-sounding sequence of bent guitar notes in an intro that adds a tinge of mystery and intrigue to proceedings, which actually skews the song away from what might be expected of such a big country tune.
The chorus is very widescreen and sing-along-able, with repeated sections and a subtle melodic progression that makes it very easy to pick up. After the obligatory break-down verse and vocal flourish at the climb-out, it’s pedal to the metal for the final chorus and proper vocal pyrotechnics (all beautifully harmonised) as Lisa Nicole unleashes more firepower that’s been held in reserve until now.
The backing track is highly polished, each instrument voice being given the space to shine. The programmed percussion floats subtly in the background to augment the rhythms, and guitars are panned hard to the sides and whisper authentically as they pick away. The tight arrangement has zero slack and we are swept along this tuneful, bombastic country road with some abandon. Fun!
Find and follow Lisa Nicole on her website, Facebook, Insta or Twitter.
