Joey Miceli uses his lyrical talent to bring listeners into an emotional realm filled with lost love, unrequited adoration, and all the romantic strife that accompanies being in an unhealthy relationship. String of Pearls runs the emotional gamut of someone who’s fallen head over heels in love, only to then be snubbed and profoundly hurt by their partner's venom – embodied by Joey's line “Even when I felt the closest you had me at a distance, like I was a goddamn witness”. This song gives a charmingly melancholic look inside the hardships of being in an unhealthy, yet addictive, relationship; straying from the cookie cutter fairy tale love stories you typically hear about and instead focusing on the brutal truths that come from deteriorating affection – a level of impassioned toxicity that is epitomized in the sullen lyric “you had me at sadistic, I took you with your sickness”. More than anything though, String of Pearls is about healing and personal growth; it’s about taking the high road with class, using heartbreak as a medium for bettering oneself in order to continue triumphantly along life’s path. The beauty of this song is that it calls for grace and understanding during a tough break up, choosing to remember the good instead of the bad – a truly touching sentiment that is sure to resonate with all listeners out there.
String of Pearls is yet another chef-d’oeuvre from Joey Miceli; highlighted by the singer’s encapsulating voice, enthralling acoustic finger-picked melodies, and some tastefully sprinkled in strings – ultimately setting an intimate mood between Joey and his audience. This song is carried by consistent acoustic noodling and soothing harmonies, allowing for the congeniality of this track to get stronger as it progresses. There is some cool vocal processing on Miceli’s background descants that give the track a pleasant atmosphere and sense of space, really opening up on certain parts to give the tune more depth. On the technical side of things, String of Pearls is filled with myriad of subtleties that give it a je ne sais quoi which only adds to the mystique of this single. One of those technical subtleties is the one bar instrumental break where Miceli’s voice is pitched up to almost sound like a synth – arranged in unison between vocal phrases to nicely fill space and prevent other elements of the song from clashing. It’s further accentuated by a faint background pad that can be heard throughout the song, serving as a sort of catalyst for the vocal doubling on the bridge before it transitions back to single vocals. The addition of reverb to the chorus allows the hook to flourish before the song leads to a clean, concise finish – wrapped up with a dry ending that puts a nice *chef’s kiss* bow on top of this hit single.
Originally from Las Vegas, Joey Miceli is an uber talented 24-year-old singer-songwriter based in New York City. Despite his young age, Joey already has five studio albums under his belt – a testament to the sheer amount of artistic talent this budding star has to share with the world. He broke ground with his debut album Talkative, quickly followed by his next projects Serendipity and diagnosis season – the latter of which being a concept album written in only two weeks in “an effort to captured unfiltered isolation” by the artist. His project BEAU: ACT I was written and produced with the help of longtime collaborator and “dear friend” Santino Cardinale and released in the summer of 2022. The Standard Portrait, Miceli’s most recent album, is a brilliant expression of the artist’s own personal tragedy and navigates the worship of self-affliction, attachment, and recovery through the dissection of art and literature. With new music on his horizon, make sure to keep your eyes locked on Joey Miceli as he continues blossoming into one of the most exciting male talents coming out of America.
Written By Dan Caddigan
FOLLOW JOEY MICELI:
*Sponsored Post - Discovered on Musosoup. A contribution was made to help create this article.