I love a tuunee, and Oliver Vawdrey offers a complete banger of a single that just cuts through the dank dull days of January. You must admire a song with a complete ambition to stick in the memory bank and this one sets 2022 off to a flyer.  Play this one on volume 11.

Vawdrey’s latest released track (January 2022), Let You Go has just a bit of a feel for peak Vaccines (now that’s an inspired name for a band as it turned out), but with an updated twist to it. I can’t quite pin my finger onto it, but there’s also something of the sensitivity of someone like fellow Manchester based musicians Larkins here too. I loved top anthem Vaccines and have a very soft spot for Larkins, so Oliver Vawdrey is pushing through an open door with me. Oliver does cite folk like Sea Girls, The 1975 and Harry Styles as influences, and while Let You Go has a much harder core, there is a touch of that stylish upbeat vibe and sheer polish of these artists too. Vocally, I am also reminded of a hint of one of my first loves, Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. Solid. This track is a belter that will test out the strength of the floor joists when played live.

Oliver studies at Leeds Conservatoire although he has performing roots going back to 2018, and over recent times has taken a step up with a backing band to perform the larger venues around Leeds and Manchester. The live sound incorporates trumpet for that extra blast. Oliver has been building up his reputation and his followers and Let You Go can only keep that upward movement going.

Let You Go has at its heart a message about how you can find some connection and balance in something unexpected and unfamiliar, but also how important it is to not let go of the familiar and the people important to you as time and things develop. As we have all learnt recently, it’s those bonds after all that keep you strong and resilient.

The formation of the track itself is a hymn to spontaneous and letting it just flow, as it was the third track Oliver had written in 2 days, and it took chocolate and coke (the innocent liquid kind) and a few scant hours in the park sunshine for the song to emerge into the conscious. The track moves Oliver to the next level for sure.

Oliver Vawdrey is next live at the legendary Lending Rooms in Leeds where he is support to The Sound of Modesty on Wednesday 16th February. Tickets a snip at £6

Chris R