Formed at Exeter College in 2025, the six-piece have already gained a buzz that sparks curiosity and makes you ask, “hang on, where did they come from?” Their debut single, Respectable, arrived on 22 June 2026 through Golden Mare Recording Co., and it feels like a bold statement from a band moving quickly, loudly and with a clear desire to stand out.
The line-up alone gives you a clue that Detour are not built like a standard guitar band. Himaya Leigh and Mim Johns share vocal duties, with Mim also bringing flute into the mix. Ollie Morrish adds vocals and saxophone; Josie Wakefield is on drums; Patrick Longland handles bass; and Wilfred Bell brings vocals and guitar. On paper, that is a busy room. In practice, it gives Detour a shape that feels full of corners, colour and possibility.
Respectable is their first single, but it does not sound like a band cautiously peering around the door. There is a snap to it, with a distinctive blend of indie, New Wave, and 2 Tone influences that sets them apart. It feels like a band that’s been listening closely, borrowing well and then throwing their own elbows into the arrangement. The track pulls together noughties indie, New Wave cool and a little 2 Tone seasoning, without turning into a museum visit. It has that bright, slightly wired feeling of a young band realising they have something under their feet.
The track is written by Detour, with lyrics by Wilfred Bell. Engineering comes from Alex Firrell and Soteris McDade, with mixing and mastering by Alex Firrell. As the fifth release from Golden Mare Recording Co., Respectable also serves as a useful snapshot of what is beginning to happen within Exeter’s younger original music community. It is not just about one band putting out one song. It is about the networks starting to form around them, the small labels moving fast enough to catch new ideas early and the college-age musicians already treating original music as something worth building properly.
That matters. Exeter has long had the ingredients for a strong grassroots scene, with student energy, independent venues, rehearsal spaces, DIY promoters and a lot of artists trying to find their first proper footing. What bands like Detour need is not a grand entrance with dry ice and a trumpet fanfare. They need rooms, recordings, encouragement and people genuinely paying attention while the scene is still taking shape. Respectable feels like one of those early moments worth catching before everyone claims they were there from the start.
The sound has charm, but not in a polished, please-like-us way. It is more restless than that. Vocals jostle with brass, rhythm and guitar, giving the song a sense of movement that suits the band’s name rather neatly. There is something slightly cheeky about it too, as if the title is wearing a clean shirt while the song itself is already eyeing up the dancefloor.
As a first taste of Detour’s forthcoming EP, Respectable does the job. It introduces the band without explaining them to death and hints at more to come. It suggests personality without forcing a grand manifesto. Most importantly, it makes you want to know what happens when this line-up gets more gigs, more recordings, and a bit more road under its shoes, building excitement for their next steps.
For now, Detour have arrived with a debut single that feels alive, local and pleasingly impatient. Respectable might be the title, but the real pleasure is hearing a new Exeter band sound like they would rather be interesting than well-behaved.
