THE LOVESONG's 7-song EP 'Deux Mille Sept' is now available for worldwide purchase via PayPal for US$15 (shipping & handling included). All orders come with a free "A-minor Chord" button. To order, simply click on the paypal 'Add To Cart' button below. Please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery.
Hong Kong folks please note that the CD can be picked up locally from White Noise Records (1/F, 4 Canal Road East, Causeway Bay) and Zoo Records (B31 Basement, Sino Centre, 582-592 Nathan Rd, Mong Kok).
Morning Redemption @ AsiaWorld Expo [13.09.2007]
Eastern Moments Western Skies @ Baybeats [04.08.2007]
THE LOVESONG DYNASTY:
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THE LOVESONG started in 1999 as personal side project by Ben Tse. At the time he was unable to find any permanent members, so he enlisted the help of some old friends for the occasional show, including Whence He Came guitarist Ephraim Bano. Without a solid line up, Ben decided to focus his time on his band Uncle Joe instead, but still writing material for THE LOVESONG on the side.
Musically, The Lovesong blend elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section often steeped in dub or reggae influence. Following in the footsteps of the American hardcore tradition, that band draws favorable comparisons to Fugazi, Cursive, The Dismemberment Plan. Notable is Ben and Ephraim’s inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of ‘lead’ and ‘rhythm’ guitars, often featuring unusual and dissonant chords and progressions.
2005 saw the independent release of THE LOVESONG's first EP, a collection of songs that Ben had written between 1999 and 2005, recorded at the studio where he worked as a part-time engineer. Originally limited to 50 copies, the EP was met with much enthusiasm and support, selling out in a matter of days without any promotion or performances. To Ben's surprise, it even managed to get raving reviews from a number of popular local magazines, such as BC and Esquire.
In reponse to the interest, and the selling out oof numerous reprints of the EP, Ben decided to try to make THE LOVESONG a live band again, especially since his brother Nic and vocalist/guitarist of the legendary Think Up A Clear Sky Suhail Stephen had both returned from overseas. With Nic on bass and Suhail on drums, the band finally had a solid line up.
They played their first show in October 2005, and have been hard at work ever since, playing to different crowds across Hong Kong, as well as being involved with both a 3" CD series (released by Lona Records) and a Chinese compilation CD entitled 'Emo Rocks China', which features bands from Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xian and Hunan. Below is a t-shirt that was printed to coincide with the CD release.
In April 2007, the band was honoured to be chosen to represent Hong Kong at China's largest outdoor rock festival - Midi Festival, but due to the short notice given to the band, they were unable to make arrangements in time for the performance.
Summer of 2007 saw the band on a weeklong tour across Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia with disco punks Tookoo from Beijing. It was whilst on this tour that they found out they'd been picked by Trent Reznor to be the support band at the Nine Inch Nails concert in Hong Kong.
Maintaining a stubborn adherence to the punk ethics of doing everything yourself, The Lovesong has managed to do achieve a significant amount of things on their own. And now with offers from labels in Japan and Norway, 2008 should prove to be a great and exciting year.
