On a sun drenched Sunday back in August last year, I find myself sat high up in a rehearsal room overlooking Cheltenham. In the near-distance a railway track sends passengers backwards and forwards to and from Cheltenham.

I'm listening to Earnest Cox practicing their new songs - "lazy Sunday morning songs"is how Simon, the bassist, describes them. And he's not wrong. Or is he?

Rock-a-bye Earnest:

The songs have a certain lullaby quality to them. At one point Shane's wife and toddler son come in to listen in. The little boy responds well to these gentle songs, gazing at his father as he carresses the drums with brushes. "Is that Daddy?" He asks at one point.

Several months later, a CD has been sent to. It's called The Trouble With Love and it contains three of these "lazy Sunday morning songs". The envelope is marked "Fragile: Handle With Care". Given the content of the songs, it seems like sound advice.

The Cox will, no doubt, correct me if I am wrong, but I gather these quieter songs were chosen for the recording because Marc (guitar) had recently broken his arm and didn't want to aggravate it any further by strumming too hard.

Whisper of the Town:

The Trouble With Love acts as a nice comparison to their previous E.P., Hello There Stranger which was a far more funky and loud affair.

This, by comparison, is a far more laid back affair. So far laid back, that they are in danger of entering the horizontal, never to return. Nevertheless, it maintains the same excellent level of quality, if not the same number of decibels.

The Trouble with Love:

The E.P. opens with the title track. "The Trouble with Love": "Hey, you and me/let's go outside/we'll watch the stars", La sings. It's a sad song - tinged with regret for problems of the past ("Did I want you way too much?" He asks. At another point he opts to "sit on the fence and cool my blood").

All the time amid a sea of melodicas, pianos and soft drumming, a backing vocal chunters on underneath: "Get myself into it - I don't know how I do it".

As with many of the Cox's songs, there's an authentic sense of world weariness on this track.

It's easy to note the influence of one of La's musical heroes. The poetry and thoughtfulness of the lyrics match well with those of Bob Dylan.

No More Happy Endings:

"No More Happy Endings" is similarly tinged with sadness and bitterness, despite its summer-y sound. "Who put the poison in you?" Is the opening line. And it barely gets more cheerful after that. Someone has left and this time it's the end. And it hurts.

The song speaks for itself. It's real, raw, emotional - and yet very, very beautiful.

World of Snow:

The final track "World of Snow" continues with the sadness and the bitterness. It's the end of a relationship and the narrator feels shut out in the cold.

"It's very cold in this world of snow/ You know I need a coat/I'm getting froze" La sings at one point. There is a tear jerking poignancy to it all - only added to by the sound of a mournful 'cello part.

Who Put The Poison in Earnest Cox?

The trouble with The Trouble With Love is that it misleads you. On first listen, you feel like you are listening to a beautiful spring morning. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The frost has yet to disappear and coldness hides behind a deceptive sunshine.

And that is what is so good about Earnest Cox: theirs is a music to be appreciated in layers. You can listen to them for their nice tunes, or you can really get underneath the face value and discover that they, like the rest of us, have a dark side too.

13/04/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link