Avaran – Love Cry – Review
Avaran Love Cry Review by Mr Topple for Pauzeradio.com.
Back in November 2024, a stirring and evocative riddim was released – and here, Pauzeradio is pleased to feature one track off it.
Love Cry, across the Tears of Life Riddim released via Hungrybelly Records/Cyclone Music Group, is from Bahamas-born musician Avaran – and is a solid piece of work.
The riddim is a slick, rich, and potent affair – reminiscent of Lovers Rock of days gone by. All the rudimental Reggae elements are there. The bass is rich and rounded and fairly low down its register. Running a winding melodic riff, it skips the fourth beat on every second bar – giving the track some breathing space. Then, keys run a standard bubble rhythm in the mid-range of their register. Drums run a variation on a one drop, with the kick and snare hitting the two and four, while hi-hats fill the spaces in between. Guitars do a distant skank which brings everything together nicely – and the use of what sounds like a g-funk whistle transports the vibes back in time perfectly.
There’s a fantastic horn section across Love Cry which perform strutting riffs and runs, providing responses to Avaran’s main vocal cries. However, the sax is the main feature of this, as it performs a superbly-executed opening solo section and then comes back again for a refrain with the trumpet and trombone two-thirds of the way through – before performing solo again as the track concludes. The focus on the sax, coupled with the rhythm section arrangement, evokes that Lovers Rock feel. Industry legend Nikki Burt delivers the goods across slickly arranged backing vocals, where multilayered harmonies meet call and response rhythms.
Then, you have Avaran’s main vocal across Love Cry. The man has a very rounded and rich, mid-range tenor but one that has the timbre of a baritone. His vertical embouchure makes this soulful sound even more pronounced – as does everything about his performance. Avaran has constructed an inventive melody with a memorable chorus that complements the main composition well. He uses crescendo and decrescendo, especially across the longer notes, evocatively to accentuate the lyrics – and couples this with expressive use of note extension and clipping. Avaran has a versatile range that goes up into a fairly high tenor as well as dipping down into a baritone, too. His controlled vibrato is pleasing, and he reserves it for the end of longer notes instead of over embellishing with it. The flashes of vocoder used work well – and all this combined makes for an excellent performance from Avaran.
If there was to be one drawback with the track it is that the final mix and master needed slightly more attention to detail. The dB of the instrumental lines is such that you’re greeted with a wall of sound from the rhythm section, with no one line standing out or directing proceedings. Also, Avaran’s vocal has been placed slightly too far below the instruments in terms of dB – albeit just a touch – and is at times unbalanced from one section to another.
Overall, though, Love Cry is a pleasing contribution from Avaran across the Tears of Life Riddim. The main composition is attractive and well-executed, Avaran has delivered an assured performance, and as a sum of its parts Love Cry is one of the stronger interpretations on the riddim.
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Avaran Love Cry Review by Mr Topple / Pauzeradio PR Services.
