Koochie
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Post by Koochie on Aug 26, 2022 8:32:08 GMT -5
Are you listening on headphones? 'Cause admittedly I was listening through desktop speakers but Britney did NOT sound buried to me like... at all. iPhone, but a good mix shouldn’t be dependent on speakers. It’s not that you can’t hear them, but compared to the demo there’s a lot of clarity lost. A few of her adlibs are competing with the instrumental track to be heard at all, which tells me they literally just took her vocal track on the mixer and turned it down 💀 Edit: ok so I’m listening on something other than Apple Music and it sounds fine? I know that service gets stuff mixed exclusively for them for “optimization” or whatever but this sounds way different (and better) on YouTube.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 8:38:14 GMT -5
I like Lisa Kudrow version better!
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Az Paynter
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Post by Az Paynter on Aug 26, 2022 8:53:01 GMT -5
Are you listening on headphones? 'Cause admittedly I was listening through desktop speakers but Britney did NOT sound buried to me like... at all. iPhone, but a good mix shouldn’t be dependent on speakers. It’s not that you can’t hear them, but compared to the demo there’s a lot of clarity lost. A few of her adlibs are competing with the instrumental track to be heard at all, which tells me they literally just took her vocal track on the mixer and turned it down 💀 Edit: ok so I’m listening on something other than Apple Music and it sounds fine? I know that service gets stuff mixed exclusively for them for “optimization” or whatever but this sounds way different (and better) on YouTube. What if it's Apple then? 'Cause my first listen was via Spotify and then via the YouTube visualizer (both on the same speakers) and it sounded fine to me both times... Odd.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 9:07:04 GMT -5
Looks like this does infact have a radio deal today on Pop :)
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Daenerys
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Post by Daenerys on Aug 26, 2022 9:07:19 GMT -5
I like how smooth this sounds, it's reminds me of gliding. Feels like a pleasant track to drive around to. Good way to end summer.
For some reason it reminds me of Way Out West's Melt.
I would consider this a success if it hangs around until November.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 9:09:22 GMT -5
This may also have a deal of sorts on Hot AC.
330 spins so far today at Pop, 92 at Hot AC
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 9:10:12 GMT -5
You can hardly hear her, and hardly any verses? Meh.
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Koochie
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Post by Koochie on Aug 26, 2022 9:15:06 GMT -5
iPhone, but a good mix shouldn’t be dependent on speakers. It’s not that you can’t hear them, but compared to the demo there’s a lot of clarity lost. A few of her adlibs are competing with the instrumental track to be heard at all, which tells me they literally just took her vocal track on the mixer and turned it down 💀 Edit: ok so I’m listening on something other than Apple Music and it sounds fine? I know that service gets stuff mixed exclusively for them for “optimization” or whatever but this sounds way different (and better) on YouTube. What if it's Apple then? 'Cause my first listen was via Spotify and then via the YouTube visualizer (both on the same speakers) and it sounded fine to me both times... Odd. Its Apple. I used AirPods and compared the visualizer to Apple Music, and maybe it’s placebo effect but her vocals seem more clear on the visualizer.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 9:15:33 GMT -5
You can hardly hear her, and hardly any verses? Meh. She's literally either at 50/50 on each verse/chorus or even a tiny bit more prominent than Elton. This talking point really needs to die. You would really think her vocals were set at 10% and Eltons at 90% with the way some of you are acting.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 9:17:29 GMT -5
Anyway, from that new Guardian interview with Elton that is a great read
(https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/26/britney-was-broken-ive-been-broken-and-its-horrible-elton-john-on-helping-britney-spears-sing-again)
This stood out:
"It was afterwards, John admits, that Spears needed some convincing that releasing the track was the right thing to do. (On 25 August, she tweeted about being “kinda overwhelmed … it’s a big deal to me !!!”) “We had to get her to approve what she did,” he says. “She’s been away so long – there’s a lot of fear there because she’s been betrayed so many times and she hasn’t really been in the public eye officially for so long. We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be alright.”
I would not be surprised if Britney was so insecure about the release that maybe *she* was the one who asked for them to take out her solo parts and instead make them more duet-y with Elton. Or, if the release date was even pushed back a week simply b/c she got scared and got cold feet in releasing it.
This also explains a lot of how she has handled the release so far on IG. It seems she was really afraid to put herself out there again, and totally understandable.
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jgarbary
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Post by jgarbary on Aug 26, 2022 9:18:34 GMT -5
just heard it on KIIS with the 'world premiere' intro, looks like they're playing it hourly
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Koochie
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Post by Koochie on Aug 26, 2022 9:26:39 GMT -5
Anyway, from that new Guardian interview with Elton that is a great read (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/26/britney-was-broken-ive-been-broken-and-its-horrible-elton-john-on-helping-britney-spears-sing-again) This stood out: "It was afterwards, John admits, that Spears needed some convincing that releasing the track was the right thing to do. (On 25 August, she tweeted about being “kinda overwhelmed … it’s a big deal to me !!!”) “We had to get her to approve what she did,” he says. “She’s been away so long – there’s a lot of fear there because she’s been betrayed so many times and she hasn’t really been in the public eye officially for so long. We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be alright.” I would not be surprised if Britney was so insecure about the release that maybe *she* was the one who asked for them to take out her solo parts and instead make them more duet-y with Elton. Or, if the release date was even pushed back a week simply b/c she got scared and got cold feet in releasing it. This also explains a lot of how she has handled the release so far on IG. It seems she was really afraid to put herself out there again, and totally understandable. Kinda had a similar thought RE: the solo bits. She got dunked on for her vocal takes on Instagram, and she’s always been egregiously modest when it comes to stuff like writing credits. This also makes me think it was Elton’s team that leaked the demo even more than I already did. I think he has a lot of faith in her.
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jma
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Post by jma on Aug 26, 2022 9:36:20 GMT -5
Despite the concerns with vocals, this is definitely an ear worm, especially the chorus part.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 9:43:21 GMT -5
You can hardly hear her, and hardly any verses? Meh. She's literally either at 50/50 on each verse/chorus or even a tiny bit more prominent than Elton. This talking point really needs to die. You would really think her vocals were set at 10% and Eltons at 90% with the way some of you are acting. Are you listening to the same song? Lol She’s drowned out, you hardly hear her. You can’t hear him that well either, but he’s definitely louder than her. I don’t see this smashing like Cold Heart, but it’s so nice to see her charting so well on iTunes. :)
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Az Paynter
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Post by Az Paynter on Aug 26, 2022 9:50:55 GMT -5
She's literally either at 50/50 on each verse/chorus or even a tiny bit more prominent than Elton. This talking point really needs to die. You would really think her vocals were set at 10% and Eltons at 90% with the way some of you are acting. Are you listening to the same song? Lol She’s drowned out, you hardly hear her. You can’t hear him that well either, but he’s definitely louder than her. Where are you listening to the song? 'Cause I'm maintaining the opposite.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 9:51:10 GMT -5
Are you listening to the same song? Lol She’s drowned out, you hardly hear her. You can’t hear him that well either, but he’s definitely louder than her. Where are you listening to the song? 'Cause I'm maintaining the opposite. YouTube, Chromecast via stellar floor speakers.
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Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on Aug 26, 2022 10:11:20 GMT -5
This is why I avoid leaks and demos, so I don't have to deal with disappointment in the final product. I like how it came together and I hear Britney clearly. She sounds good. My only real issue is how altered Elton's voice is on the second voice, but that was clearly a producer's choice, since he has proven he can still sing. Either way, I hope it does well!
Edit: I played it on Apple Music, which has Atmos turned on, which can be notoriously shitty. I am looking forward to hearing it without that feature.
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dbhmr
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Post by dbhmr on Aug 26, 2022 10:14:27 GMT -5
This is cute! I like the vibe. Never heard the demo or anything and went into this with zero expectations. After the first wave of excitement I don't really expect this to do anything, but it's a fun project for her to be a part of and nice to hear her on something new. You can hardly hear her, and hardly any verses? Meh. She's literally either at 50/50 on each verse/chorus or even a tiny bit more prominent than Elton. This talking point really needs to die. You would really think her vocals were set at 10% and Eltons at 90% with the way some of you are acting. You're becoming leonagwen impossible to deal with when it comes to others' opinions. Chill.
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Koochie
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Post by Koochie on Aug 26, 2022 10:17:48 GMT -5
Active Aggressive can you play it without Dolby Atmos and tell me if it sounds different because I'm starting to think I'm going crazy lmfao Where are you listening to the song? 'Cause I'm maintaining the opposite. YouTube, Chromecast via stellar floor speakers. Are you using Dolby Atmos spatial audio with your speakers? Because I was having the same problem as you, but when I turned that off the vocals sounded fine. If not then I'm guessing you were expecting something like the demo where she's essentially singing lead with Elton as backup. The final cut blends their vocals with neither taking priority over the other, with some exceptions. It reminds me of mid-late 90s music, and some modern dance music, that doesn't build the entire song around the vocals but instead uses them to enhance it. If it wasn't already obvious I prefer the demo take myself despite its noticeable flaws, but this is generally fine. Whoever was in charge of mastering this should probably figure out why spatial audio guts the vocals though (assuming I'm not insane).
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Dylan :)
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Post by Dylan :) on Aug 26, 2022 10:17:55 GMT -5
For Apple Music, I wonder if Dolby Atmos is to blame. Otherwise, I don't hear what you guys are hearing. Britney is loud for me and if anything Elton is drowned out (swapping in the second chorus but Britney can still clearly be heard). This sounds like Britney's songs with some background vocals from Elton. As well as that, it sounds like Elton is fighting against some of the instrumental
I definitely think Britney asked them to reduce her ad libs in the song and Elton's team was responsible for the leak to encourage her not to pull out
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Post by The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 on Aug 26, 2022 10:29:39 GMT -5
Yep, I’m also super confused by the people saying it ‘lacks’ Britney… She's literally in the entire song (bar a few lines) and her voice is way more prominent to me than Elton’s when they are together
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 10:29:49 GMT -5
This is cute! I like the vibe. Never heard the demo or anything and went into this with zero expectations. After the first wave of excitement I don't really expect this to do anything, but it's a fun project for her to be a part of and nice to hear her on something new. She's literally either at 50/50 on each verse/chorus or even a tiny bit more prominent than Elton. This talking point really needs to die. You would really think her vocals were set at 10% and Eltons at 90% with the way some of you are acting. You're becoming leonagwen impossible to deal with when it comes to others' opinions. Chill. Not saying anything other than what many others in this thread are saying. We're literally talking about the composite of the song, that's not an "opinion." Liking or not liking the song is an opinion.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 10:32:28 GMT -5
432 spins at Pop so far today; 119 on Hot AC.
Looks like this has a radio deal on both formats.
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Koochie
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Post by Koochie on Aug 26, 2022 10:32:54 GMT -5
There's a non-zero chance this will get serviced to producers for remixes like "Cold Heart" was. They'll probably get the whole recording session, including the vocals that were cut from the demo, so I like to think we'll get something that favors her more in the future.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 10:39:37 GMT -5
There's a non-zero chance this will get serviced to producers for remixes like "Cold Heart" was. They'll probably get the whole recording session, including the vocals that were cut from the demo, so I like to think we'll get something that favors her more in the future. Maybe she'll see the positive reaction to this and allow them to then release a more demo-like "Britney" version to boost streams even further ;) (a stan can dream)
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Aug 26, 2022 11:03:28 GMT -5
So I tried the YT version through my sound system. Yeah, the vocal mixing on this is still total basura.
Still a nice vibe though!
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Ace
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Post by Ace on Aug 26, 2022 11:08:27 GMT -5
It's cute, I'm hoping it grows on me as much as Cold Heart did. Haven't listened to the demo yet but I kept it tucked away til after I've digested the final version. NOT Duffy!! I haven't heard that name in at least a decade. omg. Not surprising considering she only rose to fame covering Britney's deep cut "I'm Scared."
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2022 11:15:40 GMT -5
maybe I wrote my post in the wrong context. I agree that she’s all over the song, I meant I was expecting more structure to the song like a usual (pop) song. I also found her vocals subdued, meaning they were hard to hear/make out. Same with Elton, but I found his vocals to be louder. I’ll listen again when I get home.
Edit: I also didn’t listen to the demo, this is the first I’m hearing it.
Listening on Spotify via my phone speaker, there’s definitely louder parts and then drowned out parts, IMO anyway. Maybe it’s her singing style for it. Anywho, I do like her solo parts at the end. it’s nice to hear her again and have something new out, after all she’s been through.
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upsidedown
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Post by upsidedown on Aug 26, 2022 11:21:28 GMT -5
I'm happy they still kept as many adlibs as they did. That's what makes the song truly Britney.
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Post by It's me, bitch. on Aug 26, 2022 11:27:35 GMT -5
So lemme get this straight, instead of striking while the iron was HOT last week and dropping the song Friday right after it leaked because rumor has it “Britney wanted to do some last minute vocal touch-ups” (which had to be false), they waited a week to REMOVE some of her adlibs, pushed her vocals further back into the mix, and pulled Elton’s forward, making the final version lackluster compared to the leak. The iron is still hot but everything else that you said is correct.
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