Single Review: Last Call

Building on her initial successes; bursting onto the 2021 pop music scene with her well-received single Conversation, followed by her stonking 2022 collaboration Dice with Lee Mvtthews, Rachel Leo keeps the ball rolling in the right direction with her latest single release Last Call.

Opening with a romantic vintage-feel EQ sweep, Last Call is a bop with attitude. The production is superbly balanced, with just that perfect little guitar chink, bass line, and simple beat supporting Leo’s sweet indie-style vocals, as the scene is set …

The accompanying video was directed and shot by Devan Narsai, and the viewer is left in no doubt as to the subject of the song; in a bar on a night out, with our protagonist (played by Richard Crouchley) showing his true colours … and we can be sure that Leo will NOT be sticking around for “last call” as stated in the lyrics of the upbeat and catchy chorus with a Maroon 5 feel. With her head held high, she storms off to strut her stuff on the street and dance in the spotlight as she sings her cares away.

The second verse has a great change-up of the melody, really soaring into those higher registers and exploring some breathier vocal tones. And this is where the song really gets into the nitty-gritty of the subject’s two-timing ways, with further details of his indiscretions coming to light.

But as the breakdown winds through and slowly unpacks the musical elements of the song, one by one our increasingly desperate suitor is losing all his options, and ultimately winds up finding himself alone.

Not so for Rachel Leo! Her latest single was written with and produced by Drax Project, so she is definitely not alone out there, and is rubbing shoulders with all the right people. With support from NZ On Air funding and working with some top industry names, along with having the talent, songwriting ability, and gorgeous voice to match, Leo is set on a clear path to success. With reviewers predicting her to be the next big NZ pop export, which is not a bad achievement for an independent artist, the future is looking exciting for this one.

This is a great commercial single that easily has you bopping along to it. The production is great and the delivery is perfect, plus the video is slick and everything has been done to a very high standard, so a big congratulations to all who have been involved with the project, and well done on the single release!