yesss this is my jam. getting big toro y moi vibes from this

main criticisms:
- drums are a bit too dry and cheap sounding even by chillwave standards. that clicky kick could be more rounded and i think damper hihat/cymbal sounds would fit better than the brittle 606/808 style ones used at the moment

- as sleepfacingwest said, the vox have been too aggressively de-essed. would've liked a little 1/4-note delay on the vox just to give them extra some sparkle. some more of those cool pitch/dubdelay effects like at 1:17 sprinkled throughout the 2nd verse/prechorus would've been good too because...

- the 2nd half of the song feels too similar to the 1st and really needs some variation or extra layering to beef it up and make it feel more climactic. really feels like it wants to end big like on that chord at 3:57, with the "fine" just continuing to get lower and lower as everything fades out.

overall i love this and from a purely personal/subjective standpoint it's definitely one of my favourites from the competition. sounds better than some of the commercially released stuff in my chillwave playlist on spotify tbh, make of that what you will :)

I love the jazz/pop feel of this. It's got a bit of quirk to give it personality to boot. Those vocal samples doubling the synth are really fun.
The super quiet intro is cool, but I think you could bump the gain on this just a touch. I like how it draws you in and I think the difference in volume between the intro and the rest of the track works, but the disparation between the two sections was just a little too much.
The sibilance and fricatives in your vocal performance are really hard to hear. I think the words in the vocal line would have more definition if you made those upper frequencies a bit brighter. A little compression on the vocals would also help keep things audible when you taper the ends of the words. I like that you didn't go for hyper compressed bubblegum pop vox, but in this case, a lot of the lines can be quite difficult to hear at all.

1:20 - I love this moment. I would consider adding a synth pad with a resonance/cutoff sweep to this section under those descending synth intervals (something like 0:34 in 'Lights' by Max Tundra or a more subdued/subtle version of the sweep you have going on at 3:04 in your track).

I like the brilliance of some of those crash cymbals, but I think they could be pulled back a bit so they don't stick out quite as much.

The descending piano line is awesome.

In general, I really dig this track. The style is a unique and memorable take on some pop tropes. You get extra points for imbuing personality. There are some mix issues that I think could be addressed (mostly in the vocals...I'd knock this up about half a point or more if they were more audible), but in general this was really enjoyable. This is one of the more original submissions this round. Cheers!

I like the jazzy chords and the mellow beats at the beginning. I really like the vocals, including the lyrics themselves. Sometimes, I think the vocals could be compressed a little more, just to put them a little more up-front in the mix. Occasionally, your voice tails off a bit toward the end of the phrase. The cute melodies at the post-choruses are simple, but still enjoyable. I think my biggest problem with the piece is that the composition feels pretty safe. The texture was pretty minimal in places, and I think you could’ve gone a lot further to create a sense of release and resolve with some of these post-chorus sections. At the very least, varying the melody slightly between 1:20 and 3:06 would probably be advisable. You also overuse the crashes/hats, like at 1:20. Overall, though, this is a catchy and fun track with a strong production quality and cool sound design. Keep at it, Icantpronouncethis!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

Intro synths work well together, especially that perc, although I might have liked a different kick.

Vocals could have used harder compression. You're a little pitchy here and there, and I find the instrumental starts to overwhelm you at point. However, despite the talk-singing, I find this also works reasonably well.

Mix probably could have used compressing to some degree as well, but it does sound like you mixed everything very cleanly, which I appreciate.

Initially I would have been more critical of the lyrical composition, however, your diction and overall writing actually carried them well. Internal rhymes were fairly strong, as were your end rhymes in places.

I actually was not expecting "wanted" to jive so well with "quiet," but "all I wanted was some piece and quiet before I hit the bed" might ring better after "before they even crack" as "before I go BACK to bed."

Overall though, nice structure. Really surprised me with how well this turned out as your first time working with vocals seriously. Great work. Can't wait to see what places it takes you. :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Tough break, R&B is one of those genres that's actively difficult for me to listen to.

Where to start? The instrumental really isn't doing it for me. The sounds feel canned and don't resonate at all. I'm pretty sure this is part of the R&B aesthetic so I guess I can't go in on you too hard for that. But overall the different layers just feel kind of uninspired. At best you could call them relaxing, but the timbre is a little too bright and cheery for that.

Vocals just sound weird to me, partly because I just don't listen to this kind of music and partly because I've never heard it come from a white dude. It's not bad, and the effects you mixed it with do make it blend with the instrumental, but it's not a groundbreaking performance. Nothing lyrically profound seems to be going on either, but I do like the internal rhymes on the first line (eyes closed/tight so/light won't.) It's a shame you use so many simple and slant rhymes for the rest of the song because you set the bar pretty high there.