Keith Williams Music - Heading Home
Pop
California, United States
Overall Impression: Having previously reviewed Keith Williams's brilliantly jolly festive tune "Tonight is Christmas Eve", and having thoroughly enjoyed it may I add, I dived into "Heading Home" with great anticipation. My expectations were certainly high, my hopes were for another bout of strikingly accomplished performances, deeply inspired songwriting, and engaging sonic exuberance, and I'm happy to say that not only were these expectations firmly met but they were joyfully surpassed. Keith Williams hits the ball way out of the park yet again with a fantastic rock ballad that knows exactly when to caress its listeners, and when to hit them with a thunderous bolt of both energy and towering positivity. Both tracks that I've reviewed of Keith's are marvelously diverse in style, strongly cementing Keith as a versatile artist that can tackle many genres with great confidence and success.
Strongest Point(s): As to be expected from a Keith Williams tune, the performances across the board are superb. Keith brings his undeniably warm and captivating vocal prowess to the table once again, ensuring listeners are treated to a thoroughly absorbing performance that flows effectively and fits the tone of the song perfectly. Keith's vocal style is also perfectly paired with the endearing nature of the lyrics, not only do they provoke a sincere emotional response from the listener but when paired with the highly expressive quality that Keith's vocal style naturally possesses, these two elements really do complement one another brilliantly, heightening the impact of the song's themes tremendously. It's great to see that particular attention has been given to how the arrangement naturally progresses over time, "Heading Home" makes great use of build-up and subtle variations with regards to melody, rhythm, texture, and instrumentation to ensure the track always feels as if it has something new to say. A great example of this is how the first half of the track focuses on softer timbral expressions and more delicacy with regards to dynamics, whereas when we hit the midway mark, the guitars kick in and the song adopts a more epic sense of grandeur, making excellent use of harder-edged rhythm guitars, more flamboyance in the vocal lines, and a greater sense of percussive bombast. "Heading Home" has the songwriting, the melody, and the performances to back it all up, what more could a music enthusiast want?!
Target Audience Appeal: Music lovers who like their classic pop-infused soft rock ballad with a healthy sprinkling of added sophistication will have a marvelous time with "Heading Home"
Artist target suggestions: Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Gene Autry, Daryl Hall & John Oates, The Cadillacs, Kenny Rogers, Matt Monro, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Christopher Cross,
Interested in having your Song Reviewed by our Professional Staff? Head to your RadioAirplay.com dash and click Song Reviews under the Special Offers menu!
About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar, as well as teaching it, helping students both learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and how to become proficient in home recording.