Band Watch - The Love Willows

The Love Willows had one of their songs, “Strut My Stuff,” featured on an episode of The Real World, this past season as well as on various other MTV shows. You can check out the clip here. They will be releasing their debut album, Hey! Hey, on January 27^th. Below you will find a link to their single, “Falling Faster.”

The Love Willows - "Falling Faster" {MP3}

The Beach Boys harmonized about having “Fun, Fun, Fun.” Cyndi Lauper insisted that “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Now an Atlanta duo wants audiences to climb into that giant colorful teacup at the park and take a spin through Hey! Hey! (Decca), the unabashedly upbeat debut album from The Love Willows – a.k.a. singer Hope Partlow and guitarist/vocalist Ryan Wilson – due for release January 27th.

Hey! Hey!, with all of its tracks written by Partlow and Wilson, and recorded in the attic studio of Wilson’s parents’ home outside of Atlanta, is an emotional chronicle of their relationship told through a pop/rockabilly sound. “It’s all about fetishes, love and hate,” says Partlow. “It’s a product of what we’ve gone through as a couple, the battles and the glories, everything that’s happened in the past few years.”

The tunes are brightly colored, like Hope Partlow and Ryan Wilson when they perform live, yet their accessibility belies a sense of inventiveness and, oftentimes, subtle sophistication. The first single, “Falling Faster,” is mid-tempo romantic narrative, while “A Day in My Life” reveals their sly complexity, with Hope’s enthusiastic vocals layered over sonic themes which embrace pop conventions as they tip a hat to both Irving Berlin and Brian Setzer. “Strut My Stuff,” featured on the season finale of “The Real World: Hollywood,” is a quirky tune with a music-box riff throughout, while “Shoes,” a tribute to soul over soles, is equal pop and polka. Other tracks are more straight-ahead, from the punchy “Gotta Make You Mine” to the encouragement of “Keep Your Head Up.”

Memphis native Hope Partlow released her first solo album through Virgin Records at sixteen and toured with the likes of Jesse McCartney. Ryan Wilson grew up in Atlanta, playing in local bands until auditioning as a guitarist for Partlow’s touring band a half-dozen years back. They currently live, write and record together in Atlanta.