JJ is a true force of nature with a really strong vision and some really killer songs… and having mastered the singles, it was a pleasure to finish the job properly and master the whole album. It’s a gorgeous album. Produced by Ed Harcourt: there’s a real pedigree there…he’s worked with Olivia Rodrigo, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Marianne Faithful, Afghan Whigs and countless others…highly respected as a writer, musician and producer. JJ has been writing and recording for a long time and is swimming round the industry as a read advocate for change in the sector: a one off.

I’m open to what AI can do, and I have decent enough gut feelings for knowing where the lines are between it being my work and just some automated output. I generally see mastering more as mechanical rather than emotional: there are indeed exceptions to this, depending on the mix I get delivered, but usually it’s all about processes…some technical nips and tucks..and as a result, it feels more appropriate a task to give AI a tickle.

I’ve used Logics Mastering Assistant on this album a lot…this is Logic’s AI mastering tool…… but before you jump to the angry emojis and block me on your socials, cancel me or whatever else happens to proper celebs, let me explain.

When you do anything on your own, you lack perspective. It’s easier on jobs where you are doing a track or two, but when you’re doing a whole album, it really does need to be a journey, and often with a few missteps along the way. So when I felt a little lost on what to do, I’d pop the Mastering Assistant on and see what it did….I think of it literally as if I have a graduate, fresh out of Uni next door in my studio working for me….I call them in, and say ‘hey have a crack at this while I have a cuppa’. I walk back in with my drink, listen to what they’ve done, and suddenly it’s obvious what needs to happen: it’s where you’re taste and experience comes in: ‘that’s way too bassy, and too harsh…come here, let me at it’….I go back to my mastering chain and start again, having had the experience of what not to aim for. I tell my assistant ‘nice try, but not good enough’ and they go back next door to carry open soldering my patch cables.

Whilst AI on individual songs, can work ‘OK’ (and if you’re an amateur, it really can give you that extra 20%), it just can’t get that emotional narrative an album needs….where a human heart and ears are vital.