Seth Bunting
Seth Bunting
Remains the Same
When I first read Seth’s bio, I was expecting his voice to sound a certain way - his songs, a certain sound. My unconscious bias got the best of me, and that’s one of the things I love about writing this blog. There’s no way this dude is from West Virginia - he sounds like he’s coming straight out of the best studios in NYC, like he just spent the past few years interning with those writers that can perfectly blend pop, country and Broadway all in one.
Once you read his bio, and then listen to his work, it all starts to make sense. He grew up in the Church and released two Gospel CD’s as a teenager. He began his acting career at the age of five, and started writing music three years later. As a teenager, he moved to Nashville to focus on his songwriting and guitar, but hasn’t forgotten where he comes from - you can hear pop, country, soul, gospel and the theatre in his work - he kind of reminds me of Aaron Tveit and Ben Platt. With all that said, here’s my review of his upcoming release “Remains the Same,” coming out in March.
Tracks starts with an acoustic intro in B, and when the vocals come in you immediately pick up on his tone and delivery, and a sense of urgency in the lyrics. Nice mix - great vocal eq - nothing over stating anything else, good start! It’s a quick verse, but that’s ok - it’s a great set up for a longer Pre-Chorus and Chorus. With the Pre-chorus, drums and bass come in to expand the track and there’s nice soul/R&B change to the progression as it starts to descend with a half-step. Great choice there - gives a bit of room for the vocals to move up and add to the overall tonality. Nice backgrounds here, and the Chorus comes in with a subtle push. They continue to help define this expanded Chorus that’s accentuated with some nice hits. Really dig the drum and bass tones here (especially when you hear how the drum tones change in the second verse), and I like the mix too. They’ve done a great job of keeping the focus on the vocals and storytelling.
With the second verse, there’s a very smart change in presentation here to keep the song building. He sings a longer verse, over the full band, with a bit more urgency in his voice. He’s blending a lot of composition styles here, and I love how he’s not following the “rules” that say the second verse can’t be longer than the first - I keep hearing a Broadway vibe - but not in a cheesy, over the top, presentation, no. If you think about how Opera is a continuous story, and how Opera influenced modern Broadway, you can draw a line from the great modern show tunes to today’s pop. A bit of a stretch if you don’t know music history, but it exists. Of course you could also just say, “hey man, it works, don’t overthink it.” ;)
This takes us back to the Pre-chorus and Chorus, and you’ll notice that the snare sound changed back again - love it. Nice guitar work in the back, nice thick bass tones, and good BG’s from Seth all through out. They repeat and tag the chorus a bit for a nice effect, and the song ends on a nice line, “Our love remains the same, baby.”
Make sure you scroll down to catch his socials and solid tracks. “I Drive” is a solid country pop banger. Great vocal delivery, nice chord change progression that it’ll keep you guessing, with some great guitar riffs and a nice B3 buried in the background. “Angels in the Garden” is another example of his exceptional vocal chops, amidst a massive production that is a great mix of pop and Broadway style arrangements. “Justify” is a darker pop track with vibes of Ben Platt and Pentatonix with his BG’s - great work. This guy is definitely one to watch - good luck with this track, Seth!