in aid of NORDOFF ROBBINS, the largest independent music therapy charity in the UK, dedicated to changing the lives of vulnerable and isolated people.
The Love Detectives are an emerging five-piece rock act with a striking difference. With an average age at the wrong end of their 40s, one can only speculate what these rock veterans have been doing since the 90s when three of their number cut their teeth gigging in London’s Hard Rock Café and playing live on TV chat shows.
With varied material evocative of Tom Petty and The Damned, The Love Detectives are a distinctive blend of the retro and the contemporary. Songwriter and guitarist Nick Burnell’s vocal tones are redolent of Feargal Sharkey with shades of Bryan Ferry whilst the edgy authority of Anna Tosh’s lead guitar drives the band’s powerful dynamic energy. A sometimes witty repartee between Tosh’s guitar and Graham Elliott’s bluesy keyboards is underpinned by the unceasingly imaginative backline of Ray Brash (bass) and Dickie Ford (drums).
The heart-rending lyrics of Too Late, where Burnell laments missing the chance to say farewell to his dying best friend, are the jumping off point on their debut EP for a collection of songs of impressive emotional authenticity, musical coherence and variety.
“Sometimes it takes a moment of unbelievable sadness to kick-start the creative process,” says Burnell. “But it’s the most fulfilling feeling when you realise these devastating emotions have transformed into something incredibly positive.”
The final track, Enemy of the Good, showcases The Love Detectives’ love of punchy guitar-based Indie rock with the heady cocktail of a driving bass-line, searing and hooky guitar arpeggios and a classic lead vocal with irresistibly magnetic backing.
The Love Detectives’ debut EP Nothing To Say? demonstrates the band’s total comfort with, and obvious flair for, varied musical styles. From the uncompromising post-Punk, 21st century Indie rock of Enemy of the Good to the purity of Too Late, by way of the highly original reflective blues of Eton Mess, The Love Detectives are staking their claim to a musical versatility to which few bands aspire these days.
Their debut release leaves no doubt that The Love Detectives have plenty to say!
http://www.thelovedetectives.uk