The Overtones
After three consecutive Top 5 albums, 750,000 sales and three sold-out headline tours, The Overtones continue to reboot classic sounds for contemporary audiences. March 2nd saw the release of their fourth collection ‘Sweet Soul Music’ on Warner Music Entertainment.
Recorded at Sarm Studios with producer Julian Hinton (Seal, Rumer, Trevor Horn), ‘Sweet Soul Music’ is a tribute to doo-wop and soul pioneers such as The Drifters, Al Green, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations, artists that The Overtones grew up listening to and who have influenced them throughout their career. The Overtones transport their audience back to the heady 1960s, when ground-breaking television shows on both sides of the Atlantic like ‘Ready Steady Go’ and ‘The Tami Show’ launched such era-defining artists as James Brown, The Temptations, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Supremes.
“They’re all classic songs which ruled the airwaves,” says Timmy Matley. “It’s been a real pleasure to take on these big songs, we’ve stretched our voices – our vocal abilities, our harmonies, our whole approach and moved into a different gear.”
“Apart from making you dance, soul music really does hit you in the heart,” adds Lachie Chapman. “There’s also often such a beautiful sentiment behind these songs which is why we’re still listening to them fifty years later. They’re really universal and I think they have something that everyone can relate to.”
Opening with the swinging title track ‘Sweet Soul Music” which was originally recorded by Arthur Conley and co-written by the legendary Otis Redding, other album highlights include The Temptations’ sensational ‘Get Ready’, Martha & The Vandellas’ scorching ‘Heat Wave’ , Marvin Gaye’s classic ‘How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You’ and The Drifters ‘Under The Boardwalk’
The album also features three brand new songs in the shape of ‘Something Good’, ‘Giving Me Soul’ and ‘Moving On’, the latter of which was produced by Duck (The Wanted, Lawson). Capturing the spirit of the classics which sit seamlessly alongside them, these new songs also continue the well-established tradition of self-written Overtones’ originals such as ‘Gambling Man’, ‘Loving The Sound’ and ‘Superstar’.
The Overtones’ three albums to date – ‘Good Ol’ Fashioned Love’ (2010), ‘Higher’ (2012) and ‘Saturday Night At The Movies’ (2013) – established their reputation as a group with the unique ability to deliver consistently uplifting music infused with exquisitely crafted vocal harmonies.
Aside from working on ‘Sweet Soul Music’, recent months have seen the boys join forces with the legendary Michael Ball on ‘Let It Be Me’, which was the first single to be taken from his new album ‘If Everyone Was Listening’. Timmy Matley also triumphed as the winner of BBC Children in Need’s Great British Sewing Bee.
The ‘Sweet Soul Music’ tracklisting is as follows:
1. Sweet Soul Music
2. Get Ready
3. Give Me Just a Little More Time
4. Something Good
5. Heatwave
6. Let’s Stay Together
7. Moving On
8. How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You
9. River Deep, Mountain High (featuring Sam Bailey)
10. Under The Boardwalk
11. Giving Me Soul
12. Heard It Through The Grapevine
13. Rainy Night in Georgia
A consistently popular attraction at major events including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert, the Festival of Remembrance, BT London Live and British Summer Time, The Overtones’ previous three headline tours have all sold-out, the most recent of which sold the entire total of over 35,000 tickets in advance. Their next UK and Ireland tour will commence next summer and features a major London show at the Palladium.
