Ricky Valente is a 25 year old singer/songwriter/guitarist from Rhode Island, whose newest release Loveless Letters is a solid CD filled with pleasant harmonies, gentle acoustic melodies, thunderous guitar rock, and moments of dark melancholy. Described as a mix of styles that invoke Jeff Buckley and Queens of the Stone Age, one can also hear some of the influence of Finland's masters of gothic rock HIM here, especially in Valente's vocals. "The Borderline" kicks things off in acoustic fashion, a likeable but ultimately non-descript number, before the excellent two part suite "A Shadow On the Wall" kicks in, a real kicker with some hard rock & stoner grooves, featuring Valente's meaty guitar work. On "...By the Sea", Ricky and his band again cover hard rock ground with some touches of goth, but move into almost U2-like territory on the more acoustic based "Worlds Apart". HIM meets Lenny Kravitz meets Jeff Buckley on the rocking "Chasing After You", a song featuring Valente's yearning vocals and stinging guitar riffs, and the album closes with the emotional title track, a dark and ominous song that features a strong vocal and many layers of guitars.
Loveless Letters shows plenty of promise for this 25 year old musician. He doesn't really go too deep into any one genre, so it makes him hard to classify, but if you like modern rock music that has a gothic touch, offers up some acoustic moments, and dips into a heavy rock bag, give this a try.
Track Listing
1. The Borderline
2. A Shadow On The Wall Pt. I
3. A Shadow On The Wall Pt. II
4. ...By The Sea
5. Worlds Apart
6. Chasing After You
7. Loveless Letters
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