Love|Less isn’t a newcomer to the scene. In earlier days the band was known as The Last Word, wherein the bandmembers made heavier music. Nevertheless, the band is already releasing their third EP under their current name. In November 2014 the band made its official switch to the new name and project by releasing their first EP Hollow Faith. In 2015 the band even toured with Alesana through Europe. After this tour, the band went silent for a bit, even though this was just silence before the storm. Earlier this year Love|Less released its acoustic EP, called The Acoustics. Right now we’re another six months down the line and the guys have another EP ready for us. This one bears the name Act 1: Heaven and will be released on 9 September.
The EP starts off with Omen, a great track. This track starts off dark and slow but eventually turns into the band’s iconic sound. Both instrumentally as vocally it is a technical feat. Behind every song, on the EP you can find a story. The story behind Omen is that it’s an introduction track in which the ‘loveless’ meet. The next track on the EP is called Heaven. The story told on this song is about us humans looking for something greater than ourselves to give meaning to our lives. From time to time we find comfort in another but it doesn’t always work out, hence the line ”There’s no light without you by my side”. The song itself blew me away when the band released it a few weeks ago. The thing I’m digging the most are the instruments, everything goes so well together. The highlight of this song has to be frontman Daniel Shanks his singing. If you were to compare Love|Less to The Last Word, you can clearly see their growth as musicians.
That being said, it’s time for a fun fact. Did you know that Downpours is the third song they’ve written as a band? Up until now, it was never released. As I said: up until now, because the next song is Downpours. The story behind this track touches upon a dark moment of separation and depression in Daniel’s life. The kind of overwhelming depression that feels as though you are drowning. All of this is covered pretty well in this song. Besides the fact that theme is covered, it’s also a lovely track to listen to. The band closes the EP with Ghost. This song is about the loss of a relationship and how even when that person is gone you still feel the things they left behind haunting you. And yet again Love|Less perfectly cover all of this in the song. With this track, Act 1: Heaven, comes to an end. It’s a great song to use as a closing song.
I’ve been a fan since day 1 and they’ve yet got to disappoint me. The EP is filled with emotions which are delivered beautifully and effectively. However, there’s one small downside to this EP. That’s the fact that there are only four songs on it. But hey, it’s called Act 1 for a reason. There’s probably going to be more.
Overall: 8/10
Release date: 9 September 2016
Label: –
