There are current artists making thoughtful, human, memorable records: good grooves, actual melodies, lyrics that matter.
There are also plenty of songs that feel over-engineered and built to disappear. I guess there always are. Every era has good music, bad music, lazy music, and brilliant music.
So this is not about old versus new.
It is about perfection.
Or more specifically, the assumption that the closer we get a mix to perfect, the better it becomes. Falling into this trap can lead to a long, slow spiral down a black hole.
The enemy of good
Precision has its place. There are polished records I love. A tight, modern production can be powerful when that is what the song wants.
But perfection is not the same thing as life.
A song can be technically correct and still be forgettable. A performance can be imperfect yet carry the emotional weight of the track.
That's the music I keep coming back to.
Timing that breathes. A rhythm that pushes or pulls. A vocal that bends in a way that is unmistakably human. A guitar part that hits a wrong note and somehow sounds better than what was planned.
That is craft: knowing what serves the song.
Sometimes you just need to leave it
The goal isn't imperfection for its own sake. It's to stop confusing perfection with value.
It sounds obvious, but it's easy to forget. Especially when everything today can be “fixed.” Every note can be tuned, every drum hit can be aligned, every part can be cleaned, and every decision can be delayed until the song no longer feels like a performance.
When did "perfect create" great music?
I have gear.
I have ways to record, shape, polish, and edit a piece of music.
I just need to go make something.
Let's make some music.