We had a chat with SPEAK! about their infectious and nostalgic new sophomore single ‘CAN YOU FEEL IT?’
Having set the foundations for the project with the release of the ambitious and fun debut single ‘WAKING UP’ last year, Jack Parsons’ SPEAK! has dived into fully summery and euphoric territory with their sophomore offering ‘CAN YOU FEEL IT?’.
Featuring vocals from DAME, the track has this wonderfully nostalgic and fun glow to it throughout, with a wonderful array of layers and textures making for this aural assault that feels lively and fully-formed while having this charm and sense of focus still present within the noise. We absolutely love this new release and just the energy that it radiates throughout its duration, and had a chat with Jake to find out a bit more about the new single and what more we should expect from SPEAK! in the near future.
Hey! We love your new single ‘CAN YOU FEEL IT?’, what more can you tell us about it?
‘CAN YOU FEEL IT?’ is summer all over. I remember starting to write it on some of the hottest days of summer 2020, just as the world was starting to open up again. I think that’s really reflected in some of Shannon’s (DAME) lyrics, talking of ‘endless opportunity’ and a real feeling of nostalgia. Me and Shannon originally wrote it for the band we used to be in, but when that ended this song stuck around and I’m really glad its found its home as a SPEAK! track.
What was the process like putting it together?
It’s been my favourite ever recording process for a song by far. As with all the SPEAK! tunes, I produced it but also got engineer this one alongside Lucy Hill. Last September, I gathered 3 of my best friends in my favourite little studio in London (Zig Zag) to record the drums, piano and do all the vocals. I then came back up to Brum and had Tom, Arran, Sam and Mark from the live band add their touches to the song, got my best mate Joe to mix it and it was done! Felt like such a family affair and very much in keeping with the good vibes of the tune.
I can’t lie, I love this record! And I hope people have as fun a time listening to it as we did making it
What were your biggest influences when creating it?
A real range of stuff. I saw CHIC front row at Camp Bestival when I was 11 and it kind of changed my life! My parents bought me a record player that same year and I would wake up every morning listening to the Beegees, Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire. So there’s obvious parts of those straight-up disco influences that make it onto the record.
More recently, I listen a lot to artists like Remi Wolf, Jungle and Olivia Dean who strike the perfect balance of leaning on the past but make such exciting and “new” sounding music.
So I guess a blend of all those elements. Having previously been a part of DAME, there’s always going to be a pop-sensibility in my writing and a childhood listening to indie bangers will always stay with me – no matter how much I try and get my disco on!
How did your experience creating the track differ from on your debut single ‘WAKING UP’?
CAN YOU FEEL IT? was quite a quick recording process compared with WAKING UP. I think mainly because its basically a live band.
With WAKING UP, I wanted the production to be as sparse as possible but with CAN YOU FEEL IT? I really threw the kitchen sink at getting as much in there as possible.
As I mentioned, I got to work with my best friends on this track; kept engineering and production in house and had my best mate mix it. So it was really such an easy and enjoyable process. One that I hope lays out the framework for lots of future records.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
We’ll have a couple more singles out this year from the batch of the songs that I started the band with. Then the plan is to have our first EP out properly as a “band”, recorded with the 6 other musicians who make up the live act, in February. Launched with a mini tour… watch this space!
