Love is the message and, according to Portland’s Love, DEAN, it’s the agenda for joining the collective, songwriting and composition, as well as the distribution and marketing.

Perhaps I should have stopped listening to ‘Fool’ as soon as I heard the trumpets come in, but LOUD WOMEN know a good few feminist musicians who play brass instruments. Then, all too quickly, Rachel Price’s perfectly pitched, and untouched vocals and lyrics arrived and after that, this angry feminist gave into her deeply embedded adoration for actual proper pop songs.

The genre is indie pop; probably a give away is the affectionate but self-deprecating theme of ‘Fool’.

“I don’t have it all together… Lets face it I’m not cool/I don’t care that I’m a fool.”

It’s adorable when the grown ups catch up.

The song proves to be a smooth, charming influence on a hot, intense day, with its bob-along catchy tune, and good chorus from an authentic place, despite their misplaced marketing strategies.

In fact they are all accomplished musicians, even music teachers (so plus points for supporting access to music training and hopefully not in the business end of the industry), and Rachel is the driving force that makes anything happen.

Even with the best intentions, Love, DEAN is not going to rescue you from the grips of poverty, depression, trauma. They will just pretend there’s no damage at all, and bring a decent bottle of wine to dinner, if you invite them, a good place to make a fresh start.

Find them on Bandcamp