Louis Ray collaborates with Tamzene in soulful track 'Dancing with the Colours'
Leeds-based producer Louis Ray makes his debut with ‘Dancing With The Colours’, a soulful, chilled-out track featuring guest vocals from Belladrum Records’ Tamzene. Louis wrote, produced, engineered and performed everything - showing himself to be much more than just your average producer.
Smooth sax lines, delicate piano parts, subtle guitar and swirling synths make up the base of the track, with an excellent vocal performance from Tamzene. Her delivery is passionate and emotive and complements the instrumentation perfectly.
Above: Tamzene
The songwriting is also strong - the song has a sense of direction and ebbs and flows, adding layers and subtle variations before a saxophone-led climax in the final chorus.
Louis has done a great job on the production of the single, with all the instruments sounding clear, and the track overall sounds very professional, especially for a debut single. The only point of criticism is the dynamics of the track: The high points could sound a lot bigger to contrast the more subdued parts, but it doesn’t really take away from the track as a whole.
He cites a diverse range of influences - from Tom Misch to Bonobo and Portishead, and elements of all of these can be heard in the track: The neo-soul/trip-hop vibes of Misch and Portishead, as well as the electronica influence of Bonobo in the synth and piano parts.
‘Dancing With The Colours’ is a strong debut, showcasing Louis Ray's songwriting, performing and production talents. The young producer has much potential, and undoubtedly has a lot more up his sleeve to come.
Photo Credit: William Pope
Words by Aaron Knowlden
