Reviewed by: Lee Callaghan
Evolution Music Press
February 12, 2023
As a lead-off track to their debut full-length album Ralph Nix & the Guilt Birds has released their single Window Shopping. A country jam that captures the shuffle feel of classic tracks within the genre, Window Shopping is a dynamic and colorful jam that elicits the wandering spirit within the audience. Couple the shuffle rhythms with the expressive guitars and Ralph Nix & the Guilt Birds offer vivid imagery with each passing cadence. Focussing primarily as a narrative, Window Shopping takes the expressive storytelling talents of Ralph Nix and carries the theme of traveling and observing to a whole new metaphorical level. At the root of the track, however, the syncopated melodies and vocal harmonies really are presented in a simple manner. The detraction of frivolous layers in essence provides us with a raw and lean approach to songwriting and a very enjoyable one at that. The baritone vocals of Ralph Nix submerge the listener into the narrative and captivates while hypnotically reaching our basic primary desire to explore and experience more than what we have. A clever view of a song aptly named Window Shopping.
Window Shopping is presented in a crisp and clear mix, with every frequency tucked neatly into their own respective range yet blended enough to fill the listening space allowing the overtones from the higher melodies to play out. Window Shopping would be an excellent addition to any Country or Folk Commercial radio format. The genre is well-defined yet is experimental and daring enough to blur the lines enough that Window Shopping becomes approachable to a wide audience. A very enjoyable track as a stand-alone single, yet I feel there are more aspects to this artist that we have yet to experience. As a debut single from the Good Ingredients album, and the lead-off track, Window Shopping leaves more questions than answers it provides. Diving deeper into the Ralph Nix & the Guilt Birds album should help to better understand this artist and with the lingering infectious melodies still playing in my head that is exactly what I mean to do.
