Prey - The Neighbourhood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-nvn5NBqE

To kick off my deep dives, I'll be looking at 'prey' by 'The Neighbourhood'. These guys were the soundtrack to a good bit of my teenage years and their most recent album; 'Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones' impressed me quite a bit. Certified pros.

'Prey' came back to mind for me almost a decade later this month as I was using it as a reference for a recent production I've been working on. The drum sound and atmosphere of this track are gripping. Let's break it down bit by bit.

Intro:

The song kicks off with an atmospheric acoustic guitar, quietly finger-picking along a little bit off center in the mix. Starting off a song asymetrically is really a great way to grab the listeners attention. In addition to this, there is what I assume to be a distorted vocal sample drowning in a massive reverb. Spooky stuff.

This is followed by main verse riff kicking in. Doubled electric guitars panned wide, playing minor chords midway up the neck. Catchy and memorable. It sounds like one side has a thicker spring reverb on it. Just another way to separate the stereo field! This might not have even been intentional but it adds great depth right off the bat. This comes in tandem with a quarter note tamborine. Classic.

Verse:

Jesse's lead vocal sounds as it always does, filtered and airy. I've had a couple people ask me to get their vocals to sound like his. He's got a pretty saturated chain, but probably 70% of his sound is just natural. In music that doesn't use heavy tuning, this is almost always the case. Maybe I haven't cracked the code but vocal tone has always been incredibly challenging for me to replicate.

The vocal comes hand in hand with a synth bass playing a higher melodic line.

Off center again! Make note of that. By the way, that bold bit is for me to reference when I come back through here looking for ways to vary my work and try new things. A synth bass is not something I would expect on a song so natural, but it fits. The verses on this song a pretty short. This is a good thing to keep in mind. I have a tendency to write some long verses.

Pre-Chorus:

The drums kick in and the bass drops into its appropriate territory and jumps to center. Super industrial drums. this is what I pulled the reference to this song for. Sounds like drums are in a big warehouse. According to the web, a good bit of the album was recording Zach Abel's(Guitarist) Mom's house. There is hope for the DIY! This may explain the massive drum sound relying heavily on either reverbs or a massive room with vaulted ceilings. Anyways, great move to drop the bass low as the drums come in. It creates impact without using production effects.

Chorus:

Anti drop. Goes to tamborine and wide acoustics. In the second half, drums kick back in on a ride groove. So far, the drums have been mono. The ride almost sounds like it was recorded seperately and widened with a doubler. Make note of that. That's something i've never tried before. It really keeps control of the space available in the stereo field.

Verse 2:

Same as first verse except the drums are in. I'm also noticing some chimes padding along with the guitar. Barely there, but relevant. Something I'm realizing is that changes are coming in pairs. if one thing changes, something else always accompanies it.

Pre-Chorus:

Same as the first just with added harmonies. This could be breaking my pairs rule I came up with earlier, but you could also argue that it is a three part harmony now, so two vocal parts were added. Adding harmonies is always a good way to add energy further into the song.

Chorus 2:

This time around, the acoustics serve a much more rhythmic role than in the first chorus. Drums are still going for it and there is a new electric guitar part filling out the music bed. This guitar part comes alongside some heavily distorted samples sliding around interacting with the melody. Two new parts!

Bridge:

Nice oceanic white noise riser takes us into the bridge. Wide acoustics take a bigger role Electric guitar is drowning and meandering around the melody. More atmospheric distorted sliding samples. Classic neighbourhood.

Downchorus:

Acoustics, electric part from chorus 2 and the tambo. Also sounds like there is a nylon adding some melodic content to the wide guitars. Slight variation in the lyrics. Build in the second half on a quarter note kick. Lots of risers here. One that sounds like a propeller speeding up. Dig that.

Pre-Chorus x2?

It seems that these pre-choruses are really the hook. This is the highest energy in the whole song. Tamborine jumps to 16ths, classic way to add energy at the end of a tune. vocal adlibs and a choir type synth pad. Atmospheric electric guitar chasing the melody. Lots going on here but it all fits together quite well.

Outro:

Repeated vocal line, Whole note guitar strums. Atmospheric electric bleeds over from the previous payoff.

I think I'll focus on production elements in these deepdives. I'll touch on melodic and lyrical choices in my songwriting catagory.

Well if you made it to the bottom here, I hope I highlighted something you hadn't noticed and if I missed anything that stuck out to you, leave a comment!