The Wood - Let It Loose
Liverpool-based duo The Wood present their debut single 'Let It Loose', the first taste of their 'Days' album, set for release on November 15 via Riverdream Records. Made of up Alex Evans (vocals, backing vocals, percussion) and Steve Powell (guitars, bass, backing vocals, keys, percussion), they bring rock solid grooves, creating melodies full of beauty, passion, pain and the power of real soul.
The accompanying video is a surreal experience, filmed and edited by Dylan Cox at the Pro Flex Gym in Liverpool and featuring boxer Jake Harrison, along with a host of other shady characters.
There's something of the night about this song and in a very special way, like when you find yourself on unsteady feet, down a back street in an unfamiliar city late at night. There's something coming from the underground, the source of all the best discoveries. Feel the pull and follow it. Sometimes in life, things get to you. Don’t let the world drag you down. Let it loose.
Evans and Powell met when Steve was recording Alex at his Ark Recording Studios in Liverpool and was blown away by his voice. From their first songwriting session, they realised they were creating music that was difficult to categorise yet somehow sounded familiar. With Steve on guitar and bass, they enlisted several talented friends, including Jake Howden-Woodward (Nova Twins) on drums and Martin Smith and Simon James (The Coral, Shack) on brass.
As a producer, Steve Powell is an expert at unearthing sonic magic, having recorded many notable artists records, including Michael Head and The Strands, John Power, def.fo, The Stairs and Ella Guru He also produced and played guitar on the first Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band record 'Arturius Revisited' and number one indie album 'Adios Senor Pussycat'.
“’Let it Loose’ is a song about not giving in. The everyday pressures of situations, relationships, ambitions, life’s occasional curveballs, and eventual optimism and hope. The insistent bassline of the verse, then the release of the chorus, like the clouds parting to let the sun work its magic. “Letting your mind go, waiting for the fear to fall,” says Steve Powell.
Alex Evans adds, “To me, ‘Let it Loose’ is about the rise and fall of life. The pressures we feel to take the leap of faith and overcome our insecurities and fears. The tension throughout the verse and the eventual release of the chorus reflects the stress, relief and beauty life throws at us every day. It's a journey we must see for ourselves. Let your mind go, Let it Loose.”
On 'Let It Loose', a fanfare of Mariachi trumpets leads the descent, deep down into a netherworld of delicious groove, it's all low-lit, loose-limbed and highly infectious. The muscles in your neck give way, helpless to its demands. You can't help it. Let it Loose. Once you're in, you're greeted by Alex Evans with a voice capable of turning real pain into raw beauty, this song a fine example of how it's done. Imbued with a rare natural soul, he leaps effortlessly from brooding, troubled depth to full-throated gospel glory as he leans in close to that groove.
Steve Powell's chiming guitar lands chords on the sparse landscape, strolling around the melody with its hands in its pockets, and chopping through the breaks with blasts of brass and a chorus of glorious harmonies, deep, wide and tall. Powell is the other half of The Wood, here on extensive duties of co-writing, playing guitar and bass, recording and producing.
Together as The Wood, they create music of passion and pain, of glory and redemption. Songs where all the right decisions have been made, deliberate and slowly, without any external pressure, only the enriching pleasure of artistic collaboration.
'Let it Loose' is available everywhere online, including Bandcamp and Spotify. The full 'Days' album will be released on November 15.
