WITH their innate charm and adherence to vintage-modernist style, The Overtones are a bridge between pre-rock’n’roll classicism and lively 21st century entertainment.

They’ve performed for the Queen, shared stages with Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, and celebrity fans include Will.i.am and Tom Hanks.

More than a million record sales and countless sold out headline tours later, the group have just released their sixth album, simply titled The Overtones, on which they come to terms with becoming a four piece after the untimely passing of their bandmate and friend Timmy Matley.

(The Irish singer died after falling from a 13th floor balcony in a drug related incident. Timmy was diagnosed with stage three malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, in 2016. At the time of his death, he was planning a charity skydive to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity).

Mike Crawshaw, the group’s resident tenor comes across as charming, funny but also still deeply affected by the loss of his friend.

“The reason we called it The Overtones is because we felt like this was a celebration of what we as a five have achieved over the years. “As a result of losing our friend and brother Timmy, all those sentiments needed in some way to reflect what we were going through and our thoughts and our feelings.”

I ask if there are any specific tracks on the new record dedicated to Timmy? “There’s a song called You To Me Are Everything, it’s a great song and an upbeat number and it would get people tapping their feet and dancing and singing along. That song we specifically put in because when Timmy was a young child he always thought it was called You Timmy, Are Everything.”

He chuckles and adds: “It’s those nice little things, we wanted to make sure there are those elements of reflection and elements of sadness because in this situation it’s ok to be sad. If popping on certain songs on this album brings a tear to your eye, that’s actually ok.”

There’s been a great movement recently in regards to the mental wellbeing, especially in men, and Mike doesn’t shy away from the positive effect this album has had on the band. “The whole process was very therapeutic.

“This album served not only as a celebration of what The Overtones was with our friend Timmy, it’s also an introduction to The Overtones The Next Chapter if you like. It’s been a very useful few months recording this album.”

Mike is very clear that this isn’t an album full of reflective numbers though: “At the same time we are The Overtones and are famed for making people happy and putting a smile on people’s faces, so of course there are elements of this on the record too. We really are very proud of what we’ve achieved on this album and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it!”

READER OFFER

The Overtones Christmas tour visits Bournemouth Pavilion on Friday, November 30. We have two pairs of tickets to give away. All you have to do is email your name and daytime contact number to digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk. Closing date is 12noon on Wednesday, November 28. Please put The Overtones Reader Offer in the subject header. All usual Echo rules and regulations apply.