Diamond Stone – Dance The Night Away – Review
Diamond Stone Dance The Night Away Review by Mr Topple for Pauzeradio.com.
Emerging artist Diamond Stone has been steadily making waves on the US Reggae scene – and now, he is back with a new track which is availble to stream or you can purchase the vinyl here.
Dance The Night Away, released via RuffCompany Records, Is an Old Skool Reggae track that is filled with classic touches along with some nice arrangements. The choice of minor key is interesting, given the lyrical content is positive – but it adds a further dimension to the overall vibe of the track.
Ostensibly, it is pure Reggae. The rich and rounded bass runs a persistent riff low down in its register, that works around a melody as opposed to arpeggio (broken) chords. It’s on a drop-beat rhythm that skips beat three, giving the track some room to breathe. It also takes the melody up an octave at points, further bringing space to proceedings. Then, keys run a bubble rhythm – although this is not omnipresent, stopping for breaks at points which serves to make the track build well. Meanwhile, drums are working around a one drop, where the kick hits the two and four, along with the snare, and the hi-hats fill the spaces in between.
Then, additional elements of the rhythm section include a skanking electric guitar. Extra percussion includes a vibraslap, claps, and some throwback synth pad drums. Horns work around a swinging arrangement, where they jut in and out at points with a well-harmonised and shrill refrain. This works well against the pacey BPM, helping drive the overall momentum forward. Backing vocals are well-arranged, too – providing mostly responses to Stone’s main vocal calls.
What’s interesting about Dance The Night Away’s overall arrangement, though, is the layering. Throughout the track there is a constant peaking and troughing of the instrumentation – at times, seeing it stripped just back to bass and drums, before it is layered with keys, and so on. This gives the whole track light and shade and works well. The production and engineering are mostly on point – although the use of reverb across Stone’s vocal feels dated and seems unnecessary. Also, the dB could have been reduced slightly on the backing vocals and some extra added to Stone’s, along with more focus on the higher kHz here too. Conversely, the higher kHz needed clipping off the backing vocals slightly.
Stone’s vocal is very good. He has a rich and rounded lower tenor voice, which has a slight gravelly feel which works well. He swings across his register with ease, providing some interesting riffs and runs, as well as clean enunciation even on the quicker phrasing. He doesn’t overuse vibrato and plays with the dynamics well – ending on a softer note.
Overall, Dance The Night Away is a solid release – with Stone being a pleasing vocalist who delivers the track well.
Read about and listen to more of the latest releases from Ruffcompany Records here, including Shami Bey: Ring, General Jah Mikey: The Power Of Love and Papa Michigan: Mango Season, all here on Pauzeradio.
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Diamond Stone Dance The Night Away Review by Mr Topple / Pauzeradio PR Services.
