Passion. That word is Bartees Strange’s music to a tee. Each track or project he releases is filled to the brim with it, never wavering or holding anything back he puts every fibre of his being into his music that allows us to feel every word he’s singing. His sound is intense, a sonic experience unlike any other that allows you to go through the whole spectrum of human emotion with his poetic lyrics being Pulitzer Prize worthy and his production skills only elevate this further. He’s a true talent and his latest single is something that can only be described as spellbinding.

Hold The Line is raw, intense and visceral but maintains a strong sense of intimacy. Strange’s voice evokes a strong sense of sadness whilst communicating the communal ways we grieve and about his own identity. It’s wrapped in heartfelt emotion that transcends time, making an everlasting connection with the confessional lyrics leaving you questioning so much long after the song has ended. A truly timeless single that Strange explains best in his own words”

“I remember watching George Floyd’s daughter talk about the death of her father and thinking wow—what a sad introduction to Black American life for this young person. It was painful to watch her grow up in that moment, like all Black kids eventually do.

‘Hold the Line’ was written over the course of three days during that first pandemic summer. Through this song I was trying to make sense of what was happening in the U.S., my neighbourhood and my community at that moment. During the marches people were trying to stop the bleeding, locked arm in arm, doing everything they could to hold the line.“