Bartees Strange Releases New Song ‘Hold The Line’
Bartees Strange
Releases ‘Hold The Line’
New Album Farm to Table Digital Release 17 June
Vinyl & CD Release 7 October
Debut UK & European Tour This July
Photo Credit: Luke Piotrowski
Today, Bartees Strange releases ‘Hold The Line’.
The new song was written in late May of 2020 about George Floyd’s daughter, Gianna. Bartees says of ‘Hold The Line’,
“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 US, my neighborhood 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.”
Listen to ‘Hold The Line’ HERE or via the player below.
‘Hold The Line’ – Bartees Strange[
Official Audio]
‘Hold The Line’ is taken from Bartees’ second album and 4AD debut Farm to Table. Released digitally on 17 June and on vinyl and CD formats on 7 October, the album also includes the recent singles: the hopeful ‘Heavy Heart’ and the unapologetically braggadocious banger ‘Cosigns’. Where his 2020 debut record Live Forever introduced the experiences and places that shaped Bartees (Flagey Brussels, Mustang Oklahoma), Farm to Table zeros in on the people – specifically his family – and those closest to him on his journey so far. With his career firmly on the ascent, Farm to Table examines Bartees’ constantly shapeshifting relationship with life post-Live Forever. It also speaks to a deeper lore that says, don’t forget where you came from, and this album is why. Always remembering where he came from, across 10 songs Bartees is celebrating the past, moving towards the future, and fully appreciating the present.
ABOUT BARTEES STRANGE:
Born Bartees Leon Cox Jr. in Ipswich, England to a military father and opera-singer mother Bartees had a peripatetic early childhood before eventually settling in Mustang, Oklahoma. Later, Bartees cut his teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn whilst working in the Barack Obama administration and (eventually) the environmental movement. Since charting a path as a solo artist, Bartees Strange has released two records in quick succession: an EP reimagining songs by The National (Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy, 2020) and his debut album proper Live Forever (2020).
Farm to Table will be released on 17 June digitally, with physical formats (LP and CD) following on 7 October.
To pre-order head to strange.ffm.to/farmtotable
Bartees StrangeFarm to Table[4AD 0488]
Bartees Strange Farm to Table
[4AD 0488]
1. Heavy Heart
2. Mullholland Dr
3. Wretched
4. Cosigns
5. Tours
6. Hold The Line
7. We Were Only Close For Like Two Weeks
8. Escape This Circus
9. Black Gold 10. Hennessy
Bartees Strange Tour Dates
* with Car Seat Headrest
% with The National
^ with Metric
13 May – SALT LAKE CITY, UT, Kilby Block Party *
18 June – LOS ANGELES, CA, The Getty [tickets on sale 4 June]
1 July – SIX FOURS LES PLAGES, FR, Pointu Festival
3 July – WERCHTER, BE, Rock Werchter 2022
4 July – COLOGNE, DE, Helios37
5 July – HAMBURG, DE, Molotow
7 July – BERLIN, DE, Badehaus
9 July – MADRID, ES, Mad Cool Festival 2022
11 July – MUNICH, DE, Milla
12 July – FRIBOURG, CH, Festival Les Georges
13 July – REES-HALDERN, DE, Haldern Pop Bar
14 July – AMSTERDAM, NL, Upstairs @ Paradiso
16 July – LEEDS, GB, Community Room @ Brudenell Social Club
17 July – MANCHESTER, GB, Night & Day Café
19 July – CARDIFF, GB, Clwb Ifor Bach
20 July – BRIGHTON, GB, Patterns
21 July – LONDON, GB, Powerhaus
22 July – SUFFOLK, GB, Latitude Festival
7 August – CALGARY, AB, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium %
8 August – BONNER, MT, KettleHouse Amphitheater %
9 August – OGDEN, UT, Ogden Amphitheater %
10 August – DILLON, CO, Dillon Amphitheater %
13 August – NORTH ADAMS, MA, MASS MoCA
26 August – TORONTO, ON, Budweiser Stage ^
1 October – COLUMBIA, MD, All Things Go Music Festival
BARTEES STRANGE ONLINE
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