Single Review: Detweiler - Dunno

Detweiler’s new single ‘Dunno’ radiates with heart and warmth from the very first listen, with its opening riff combining with frontman David Holt’s clear and incisive vocal – ‘Your judgment lingers in me / Hostile to the things I want’. Eighteen seconds in, you can feel the melody in your chest as new riffs unfold, building up to its simple yet highly pertinent chorus: ‘I just feel like I don’t know’. 

The lyrics and the melody are equally affecting, melding together to create a beautiful and powerful piece of music. Brother-sister vocalists David and Marianne Holt harmonise so perfectly, evoking the mutual respect and closeness that comes with a lifetime of singing together. The Holts hail from Hartlepool, and there is an irresistible charm to their obvious rapport. Meanwhile, Mancunian multi-instrumentalist Dave McGill brings the multiple layers of the track together with skill and ease, deftly complementing the vocals.

In the heartbreaking lines ‘Your sickness lives within me / Pulsing round my mind, my body’, the listener is powerfully confronted with the inter-generational trauma of addiction. ‘Dunno’ is a profoundly sad song, yet it pulsates with glimmers of hope. It suggests that despite the difficulties of being a young adult faced with the realities of addictive behaviour, the future can still be bright.

Words: Rosie Crabbe