really excellent stuff, as usual. That soaring harmony at the end of each verse is lovely and I like the shift in the rhythm in the chorus. Very cinematic, and the tasteful lead guitar and unexpected addition of accordion towards the end both add a lot.

I'm not sure if this is the song that I enjoy the most this week, but there's no disputing the delivery and craft, which is a couple of notches above everyone else. The melody in lines like "Dig your way under, handcuffed to your sheets" is great, and lines like that make the picture you're painting more vivid, while augmented by the eclectic arrangement. Such a crisp recording too. Very classy track. On the strength of this track I'd be very surprised if you didn't win this year.

The attack on the acoustic guitar is non-existent. Not sure if that's intentional or not but to me, it would add a lot to keep at least a little of the percussive strum noise. I'm not grasping the concept here. Something odd is going on with the snare at around 1:24. It returns again at 2:38. It kind of sounds like some weird time stretching artifact like this was played at double speed and then slowed, or like the snares are on but really loose. Weird artifact in the sibilance at 3:43, maybe from pitch correction recognizing the sibilance as a note and trying to correct? Really love the sound of the bare vocal harmonies at the end of the track, a nice way to close it out. I wasn't wild about this song, nothing about it really grabbed me and there were a lot of weird artifacts in it that need cleaning up. Otherwise, the production is nice.

As usual you guys do lush really well. Again I hear things I could nitpick, like I would have had the tremolo effect on a bit wetter, or maybe a different one that has a softer attack, maybe some notes that aren’t quite in tune or just a little rushed, but I mean that’s not a real criticism, just production shit. All the layers are gorgeous, good work in the transitions. Vocally I like all the phrasings, in the chorus particularly, and I like that the lyrics are sparse and impressionistic as opposed to verbose and explicit, which happens a lot in these Songfight/Nur Ein songs sometimes. Like a moment ago I was writing about movement through the verses, and this lyric does a great job of setting a scene and investing it with emotion, which to me is when Moss Palace songs are really great.

The opening word always takes me to Juice Newton “Midnigh igh ight” sounds like the “Oh oh oh” at the beginning. This song is flawless. Oh, you actually have the lyric “mid nigh igh ight”, no wonder I’m playing with the Queen of Hearts. Vocals are amazing. The production is amazing. The backing vocals are amazing. It’s all amazing. Will this be a judge unanimous win? I predict it will. Excellent.

Solid entry that deserves its ranking.
Strength: performance and execution
Weakness: hiding from its emotions

Very shiny and smooth, beautifully performed all around including the lovely guest harmonies, and well produced. This could be a lost Fleetwood Mac song (but I am not honestly a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac, so that's not necessarily the hugest selling point for me...) The lyrics are a nice flurry of mystical imagery, but I wasn't clear on what the feeling or story was supposed to be that I should be coming out of this with. Really nice vocal rhythms and phrasing in the choruses. The a cappella outro is a showstopper, really gorgeous. This is a song that is hard to fault, but didn't quite grab me in the end--this round, I guess just because of the mood I was in, I ended up ranking some of the more personal-feeling songs higher even if they were a bit more on the raw or messy side, and your tune dropped a bit in my personal rankings because it felt musically beautiful and aesthetically pleasing but in a safe way, and with the poetic abstractions, not quite so real or visceral.

I really Love (pun intended) the Forever Changes feel to the groove on this track. The performances and production are all excellent. I do feel like the second verse could do with some big, shimmery tremolo chord strums and the track is crying out for a mariachi trumpet (though the guitar solo does fill this role) but I'm not going to penalise you for not having a trumpet player! The a capella ending is a classy little cherry on top.