Single Review: Ready To Live

Ready To Live is a beautiful inspirational track from The Human Kind; a collective with a focus on health and wellbeing. The song features a diverse array of instrumentation including strings, flute, synths, and something that sounds to me like maybe a Gudok or similar? It brings to mind a Beats Antique track called Three Sisters which employs the ancient 3-stringed instrument, and creates the same kind of cultural/spiritual vibe; an opus that harkens back to man’s earthly origins from ancient beginnings, and calls to an awakening of our spiritual nature and deeper consciousness.

The lead vocals have been beautifully recorded to capture all of the subtleties of depth and breathiness in the vocal tone. The melodies are strong yet delicate and give a sense of focus and purpose. A deeper male voice enters the mix with a motivational chant, further urging the call to action. The female melody lines are later layered in counterpoint with each other towards the end of the song, which gives a really effective result.

With links to the Mental Health Foundation on their website, and the below mission statement, it’s clear The Human Kind have a purpose and a passion for the support and edification of others:

“The Human Kind, are a creative social enterprise that creates and performs music, songs and visual showcases to raise awareness in support of organisations that promote mental health, wellbeing and empowerment of individuals in Aotearoa.”

Ready To Live has been released on Spotify and Soundcloud. However, I understand the focus will be on the live performances as the main way for people to enjoy the full immersive audio/visual experience, and receive the full benefit of the message they are seeking to convey.

A series of live performances are planned around Auckland for Mental Health Awareness Week from 27th Sept to 3rd October 2021. Let’s hope these are able to go ahead as planned! Looking forward to catching one if and when they bring the live show to Wellington!