Whoa, are you on another planet? C'mon, there isn't anyone else on this planet who could make music this good. Bloody Brilliant Finn!

And Finn bangs out yet another fantastic NGADM hit! How does he do it, folks?

You know, before this year's Audio Deathmatch, I hadn't even really encountered your talent much on the site. Obviously, that has changed quite a bit at this point, and you are now very much on my radar.

While The Afterlust is a truly fantastic track, you've really outdone yourself with Lavender Air Balloon. The overall song structure is excellent, it's catchy as hell, your instruments come together beautifully, the mix is the clearest it's been so far, and your vocals possess pure star power. To be honest, I'm going to have a hard time giving much in the way of actual useful feedback, but I shall do my best!

In all honesty, the first time I listened to this track, I found myself shaking my head when it all started out with drumsticks. Even when bands do it to get everyone on tempo, it tends to come off as more than a bit clichéd. But then the music started, big and bold, and I could at least understand your decision to kick things off that way. The more I listened, the more it grew on me, but since I know this is a one man show I'll probably always wonder if there wasn't a better option.

About the only other thing that I personally found to be less than stellar was the bridge. The purely instrumental part feels too long before moving into the vocals, and while I believe removing that entire second run-through would be too much, I think a well-made half phrase could have worked out nicely, which of course would require a fair amount of extra effort to meld into the flow.

Those first two instances of "Take a breath, breathe it in, believe in this feeling" are surprisingly deep, and since they don't possess your usual higher falsetto, it ends up sounding rather unlike you, which I found to be a bit jarring. But the real issue here is that these don't come through as well in the mix, and they get pretty well overshadowed by the instrumentation. Still, it adds to the dramatic ramp when you do go higher, which ultimately leads to that beautiful tension that you relieve so effortlessly as you enter the final chorus. While it all works out very nicely in the end, those low vocals need something more to make them more prevalent within the overall mix. I suppose boosting the volume would have worked to some degree, but I feel like using effects to enhance those vocal lines in some way could have served in a greater capacity.

And hey, that's pretty much all I've got! Clearly not a lot of constructive criticism that I can give since I mostly went super in-depth with just a few admittedly minor issues. The song itself has such an uplifting sense of joy that I can't possibly listen without smiling. Love you, love this track, and I cannot wait to hear what you come up with next time! Best of luck to you in the Round of 16, good sir.

9.79 out of 10

I like the thick texture at :03, and the cathartic guitar riff at :23. The vocals are really refreshing and uplifting. During the verses, the constant call-and-response between the piano/vocal sections and the instrumental guitar sections is a little much, though - it just changes the texture drastically at very short intervals. The acoustic guitar solo at 2:30 was a great touch, though - it really cements the overarching tranquility of this piece. I also like the low register of the vocals at 2:52. It both complements the texture, allows space for contrast at 3:20, and also sounds quite sexy. The minimalism at 3:47 was a little unexpected, but works really well in giving the piece a little bit of spacing going into the final refrain. The refrain itself might’ve needed a bit more development (as it’s the final chorus in a relatively long piece), but overall this is really admirable work. I think this might be your strongest work yet in this competition. By all means, keep it up! :D

9.75/10

I needed this so desperately badly today. I've been having such strong dysphoria, and I didn't sleep well last night. But I played this song and I feel just like you described-- I wanna scream this down a sunny highway with a smile on my face! You have a powerful gift to bend emotions... Thank you for writing this song!! I will be sharing this with my friends!!! :)

That guitar is mixed and played so nicely starting at around 2:20. I love how the vocals join it at 3:00 too! The melody of this song is really enjoyable too. Sounds a bit familiar! Really amazing track to be honest. I'd just say, tighten up some of the really small details. Really tiny parts like 3:49, you can hear the breath hit the microphone on the 'f' of 'feel', and at 3:52, the 'and' warbles a bit for some reason. Just, really tighten up on those tiny little details to make sure your work is the best that it can be! Honestly, that's such a lame critique though because this is one of the tracks that I've enjoyed the most from this round. Such talented people and amazing quality. It's a pleasure to listen to your work.