I’m so proud of Louis nailing the BTM performance. It’s a hard song to sing and it shows how much confidence he has in his voice that he can just saunter onto that stage and belt it out.
He really did completely nail it.
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If you listen closely to the video that the Late Late Show uploaded to YouTube, you’ll notice that this performance had a different, more acoustic instrumental arrangement compared to the studio recording.
Notice that Louis starts the song acapella. There is no pitch cue (or maybe he has one in the in-ear). This is notoriously hard unless one has perfect pitch.
In this live performance, there is not much “synth” distortion to his voice, and very little mic reverb. That means we hear every pitch break, every vibrato, every inhalation with crystal clarity. And he hit the notes right on— especially the low notes where he has had difficulty in the past.
You also hear that his voice sounds different between the verses / bridge and the chorus.
We think of singing as coming from the throat muscles (and Louis’ are beautiful), but Louis is using his abdominal and chest muscles to control the power in his voice.
The bridge has longer, softer, more sustained phrases where Louis isn’t taking breaths in between, so there’s a driving, pulsating energy in his voice that’s different from what came before and what comes after. You can hear the soft, hushed quality of the voice that’s kept lower in the throat (“throaty,” when compared to the belted notes of the chorus that are brought forward and up into the nose and palate). This is intentionally done to create contrast and drama (you know our drama queen!).
A charming detail: watch Louis’ right thumb beating to keep time (e.g. 2:26) 🙂
So now we have had two live performances where Louis smashed both of them like it’s a walk in the park. I hope he won’t feel the same performance jitters again, and know that he is a certified rock star.
[A side note about the instrumental arrangement which I assume Steve Durham did. I think this song must be really fun for the band to perform. The bass, drums, keyboard, guitars, and strings all have fun parts to play; it’s very upbeat and dynamic. Michael, Zak, and Matt sing beautiful harmonizing vocals. The graphic design/ lights on the small LLS stage also try their best to mimic the “shooting stars/ fireworks” graphics on the San Siro stage, which in turn reference the fireworks / shooting sparks of the Bigger Than Me music video, which — perhaps — are meant as a commentary on the fire from the Walls music video and the burning romance of Only the Brave. More on this later!)
This is a character that has come to define my life in so many ways, both professionally and personally. Coming back to it after all these years was very meaningful to me.
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return (2022)
AT LONG LAST: the interview translations from the Baten Kaitos artbook are finally finished with conversations with composer Motoi Sakuraba and the Japanese voice cast. (If you haven't checked it out previously, this document also contains translations of interviews with illustrator Nakaba Higurashi, scriptwriter Masato Kato, and the producers & directors.)
For many, the interview with Sakuraba will be the highlight, but I personally found most memorable this spoilery bit below the cut from Kalas's Japanese voice actor Kousuke Toriumi, which explains precisely why he was chosen for the role:
In the middle of the story, there's a scene where you betray your comrades; your performance there must have been difficult, wasn't it?
Toriumi: I didn't think it was particularly tough! I actually ended up enjoying that scene itself, and when I read it, I thought, "oh, wow, I betrayed them!! Yahoo!"
Congratulations, you absolute, perfectly-cast dick.
I can't believe Harry just sneaked a new music video in, when the next single is already set to be Late Night Talking and submitted into the charts run.