The Latch
Remember the days of pop artists like S Club and Steps, no? Well then you probably don't recall Lee Latchford Evans. After the split of his pop band Steps, he teamed up with various producers to work on solo material, and find out which genre of music suits him best as an artist. He found his passion not in pop, but his real inspiration came in commercial rock, the music he has been listening to his entire life. After teaming up with Simon J Pinto, who has been working behind the scenes in the music industry for years and has earned high acclaim for his creative approach to guitar playing, the lads went from friendship to writing partnership to forming The Latch. Together they have produced some tracks full of strong powerful pop melodies driven by rock grooves and breathtaking lyrics about passion.
The first taste we get from their sound is on the track 'Miracle'. Together they combine an upbeat mix of electric guitars, and smooth vocals. Lee's smooth yet deep pop voice works very well in the rock genre. Just when you think he may not have the vocal ability to be rock – he raises his voice for the chorus and blows you away. 'I need you' is a little more rough around the edges. At times it's had to tell whether Lee is putting on the rock husky voice on this track or whether he just has some great ability. This is a very catchy tune, as is the follow up track 'Hey You'. Once again great vocals, and sounds present, but this is a memorable track. The last song on the EP, 'Free' has a catchy chorus both lyrically and musically which you just want to yell out at the top of your lungs – 'Free!' These last two tracks are the sort of songs you can lie back and visualise videos being filmed from such interesting beats, lyrics and vocals.
Lee has defiantly put those days of Steps, line dancing and routines behind him. Of what I can remember of Steps, he was always the one standing and never singing so it is great to see he is able to prove he can sing, and write a decent tune – with the odd bad word thrown in to prove he has matured as an artist. These pop rock or commercial rock tune sound amazing and can't wait to here more.