Dom Malin + Luna Keller - “Overgrown”
Easily, one of the most beautiful things on God’s green Earth would have to be male + female harmonies. Unfortunately, while these duets are quite common in practice, their successful execution is not. Listeners need to be able to close their eyes and imagine these two singers facing each other while sharing a solitary microphone. If this cannot happen, no amount of production wizardry will save the track. And hey, we are completely aware that COVID led to many artists sending tracks to one another over great distances, collaborating more than ever before, but we’ve oftentimes noticed, with vocals in particular, that it is obvious when they were recorded at two different times, in two different locations, with two different microphones.
This is what makes “Overgrown” so fantastic. Here, Dom Malin shares lead vocal duties with Luna Keller and, to anyone who hears, these two are in the same room while breathing sweet life into both the track and the hearts of all who hear. The song begins immediately with their duet and it is instant goosebumps, people. We’re not trying to insinuate anything here, but these two harmonize as though they share a deep bond, one that easily spans any physical distance that might exist between them. And since Keller is from Germany and Malin the UK, they’ve either perfected the art of long-distance vocal production or they rendezvoused to the same studio when they laid these tracks because the result is sensational. There is never a lyric where their voices are apart, leading us to believe that they will never again have to miss each other (that last part will make more sense once you’ve actually heard it).
Stellar production aside, “Overgrown” is quite simple: acoustic guitar in the left channel, lead in the right, and some bass during the first verse, followed by brushed drums and orchestra at the first chorus, then remaining for the duration. They are not using any tactics that are not already available to every songwriter, but the way that they’ve combined them has created a song that could easily be in any Hollywood production where the audience watches destiny finally bring two people together, after spending the majority of the film believing that they would be forever apart. Please forgive the reference, but ‘tis the season (coughHallmarkChannelcough). Everyone with a heart will love this song and we simply cannot wait to see what these two come up with next.
-TM