Dexeter is a name becoming increasingly more known on the UK country circuit and for good reason. The band, fronted by Dee Dexeter and Gareth Thomas, finished 2014 with a UK top 15 country album and a number of glowing reviews from various bloggers after not only supporting the Shires and Ward Thomas on the Homegrown Tour but also having their, then, single ‘Slow It Down’ featured on BBC Introducing. The question was… Could they keep this up!?
On March 8th, the second day of the Country 2 Country festival at the O2 Arena in London, they blocked the entrance to the venue with crowds and crowds of people gathering to watch their performance. With the excitement around this band growing, I jumped at the chance to review their newest release and the double A side single of ‘Meet Me There’ and the special version of ‘Older (Wouldn’t Change A Thing)’ has not disappointed.
‘Meet Me There’ is a track that I interpret as about just getting away from it all, away from work, away from the stress of day to day life and just being in that perfect place with the perfect person. The music accompanies Dee’s vocals perfectly and the harmonies used throughout the song only do more to bring out the quality in her voice. The slide guitar running throughout does well to really bring the ‘country’ out in this track.
“Will you meet me there, if the rain comes down I just don’t care”
The iconic ‘woah oh oh’ in this song is sure to get you singing along by the end of it and I can say from experience that live with hundreds of people all singing in unison it is something quite spectacular. The track is generally quite relaxed but the soft drum beat helps to bring it up another level transitioning from verse to chorus nicely. I could listen to this again and again and not get bored (when I say ‘could’ what I mean is I have!).
This crowd pleaser is finished by a piano version of ‘Older (Wouldn’t Change A Thing)’. Having only heard this track live being performed with an acoustic guitar, I found this to be a nice change to listen to. Again Dee’s powerhouse vocals sound fantastic on this track though I did find that at points towards the beginning of the track the piano seemed to be maybe a little loud in the mix. When the chorus kicked in with Gareth’s complimentary harmonies I quickly found myself focusing more on the vocals than the piano and by the second verse the balance seemed much better. A great country ballad, this is definitely one of my favorites.
“’Cos I’m older now – And its ok… I wouldn’t change a thing – ‘Cos I love the skin I’m in”
Both of these tracks are a must to see as a live performance, where the passion Gareth and Dee have for their music truly shines.
The choice of songs used on this single work great together and they show the audience the musicality of Dexeter. This has left me wanting more from the duo and I, for one, will be going out and buying the album when it is released!
It’s easy to hear the talent these two possess but why not check them out for yourself when Dexeter play at the Barfly in Camden on July 3rd for the release of their album ‘4000 Miles To Nashville’ and will be bringing along with them some special guest performers!
