Single Review: Same Mistake

Lorenzo Hazlewood is probably best known as front man for Auckland hard rock band Close To The Bone, but he also released some solo singles last year in slightly different fashion, and now he has returned with his first for 2021, Same Mistake. This is reminiscent in some ways of classic ballad-style grunge like good Alice In Chains or Soundgarden, with his vocals very much to the fore. They often sit on a layer of different guitars, yet it is somewhat strange to realise that at the heart of this song is an acoustic, with loads of electric then put over the top. These enhance the song, yet do not remove the soul, and one can imagine Lorenzo performing this totally solo in a very different fashion to the way it appears here.  

The same goes with his vocals, as he has multi-tracked them at places in a similar fashion to that utilised by Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake, yet there are others where it is singular and the contrast between the styles really makes one pay attention. This song again contains a great deal of space, with the music swirling in and out, and the dynamics are incredibly important as the music continues to move and the listener is never really sure where they are going to be taken on the journey.

The vocals really work in this style of music, providing a harsher edge which allows the song to have a far rawer feel than if the vocals were cleaner, hitting a contrast with the stark melody line from the guitar. The pace is slow, never rushed, but also not lethargic as we all gently go for the stroll as opposed to being rushed from place to place, and it is something to be savoured in the way that life itself is a journey and not a destination. The production is superb, and the way the music swells and dies is almost tidal, like a living being, and when the song finishes the listener feels somewhat bereft as if something vital has been taken away and the only way to fill the space is to put it on again.