- 2021-03-28
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ FITZ Releases New Album “Head Up High”: Streaming
Los Angeles-based alt-pop band Fitz and The Tantrums' frontman Michael Sean Fitzpatrick, aka FITZ released his debut solo album “Head Up High” on March 26, 2021.
The album comprises of 14-track, co-produced by FITZ and Ryan Daly. They made the album with using Zoom during the pandemic.
Michael Fitzpatrick said of the album in a statement, “I didn't even get my first break until I was 38 years old. By that, I mean I could sell a bunch of tickets to people other than my friends! It wasn't until I turned 40 that the band experienced any real success. I busted my ass and faced so much rejection for a good 15 years. I put down this dream more than once because I was so heartbroken and devastated by the industry. However, I had this monkey on my back that said, 'You've got to try again.' To have the opportunity to make what will be my fifth album overall is mind-blowing. It's already an incredibly unusual path. To make it even more usual, my wife and I were lying in bed and laughing once we finished the contract. I was like, 'Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact I'm a 50-year-old man who just signed his first record deal?'”- He explained track-by-track for the album via Apple Music.
“Head Up High”
“When I wrote that song, it was a couple months into the pandemic. I was feeling overwhelmed, depressed. I walked into my studio and picked up an acoustic guitar and started angrily strumming these pretty chords. I was like, 'I'm under pressure, underpaid, and working overtime.' I needed to write a song to bring me out of my funk, really.”
“Spaceman”
“We 100% had to get permission from Steven Tyler [for the 'Dream On' sample]. Luckily enough, I reached out to Steven and he was super gracious and loved the song and was into the idea.”
“Congratulations”
“At the beginning of the pandemic, I got up to perform on Good Morning America to honor all the graduates of 2020. I literally performed on national TV from my backyard. I thought about it, and I wanted to write a song to all of us, basically saying, 'Hey, congratulations. We all made it through the craziest-ass year of our frigging lives.'”
“Still Cool”
“So many people just hear the single from a band, but I always try and create a complete album that takes you on a journey. I wanted a song that took you to laying on the beach with the sun shining on you, but with a hint of melancholy wrapped around your sunny day at the beach. The song flowed from there. And I loved this idea of, like, 'Am I still cool? Are we still cool?' The answer to that is TBD.”
“Jump”
“This is actually the first song I wrote in this process before I even knew it was a solo album. I was trying to capture the insanity I thought everyone was feeling. Everything is upside down. I'm performing in my backyard. The number one movie on Netflix is a movie from 2014. What is happening?”
“I Need a Dancefloor”
“This is another one of those songs that tried to speak to this moment without directly speaking to it. At the beginning [my schedule] was wake up, make the kids food, get into the studio, start writing a song. By the end of the day, it was dance party in the living room, shake off the stress of this moment. And that was really the motivation behind the song. I want people to dance their butts off and lose their minds a little bit.”
“The List”
“I worked with JP Clark, and I love working with JP. He's such an old soul. To me, this song is: We all have our list of character defects, and as you grow older, you find out more about what they are. They become a list next to you that you can see. It speaks to those moments where I feel like, 'God, here I am, again, making the same mistake, making the same bad choices. Why do I always have the same list?'” -
“Somebody Sometimes”
“During this pandemic, it's been myself and my wife and our three kids. It's 24 hours a day: We're cooking three meals and educating them; it's Zoom school and trying to stimulate them, nonstop. A couple of our friends hadn't seen another human being in four or five months. They hadn't gotten hugged or touched by anybody. We cannot exist as human beings without connection. I love how the chorus ends—it's a good sign. There's hope. There's magic—your world can be changed instantly. You meet the person who changes your life.”
“Slowdown”
“This song is one of my favorite songs on the whole entire album. It is all about the realization of your own mortality. I see my kids experiencing things for the first time and I see the passage of time happening. I'm a guy that, up until last year, spent every day of my life on the road. Now I'm at home with them, watching them grow on a daily basis. I feel like I'm watching life speed up around me and my kids grow up so fast and it's like, 'Holy shit, I just sat down. I need everything to slow down, because it's way too fast.'”
“Speed”
“I love this song because it's the most aggro song on the album. I wanted this song to make you feel like you were driving in a scene from a movie; I wanted it to capture this exuberant cockiness.”
“Piñata”
“There absolutely is a trumpet here, and it's a tie-in because there's a trumpet on 'Head Up High.' I'm obsessed with General Public, The English Beat, all that stuff. This song kind of always reminded me of that. To me, the perfect analogy for when somebody is screwing around with you is that they're beating you up like a piñata. They're just taking swings.”
“House Party”
“This directly pulls from the experience of being stuck in your home. I know every inch of my house now in a way that I never wanted to. It's another one of those songs that just makes you want to lose your frigging mind, shake your body uncontrollably, and shake off the stress of what this time has been.”
“Little Champion”
“There was some inspiration from those classic big '80s drum builds. The song is a rallying cry to all those people in your life that you believe in more than maybe they believe in themselves. For me, it was born out of seeing my oldest son feel challenged and defeated—approaching situations where you push through or give up for the very first time.”
“Zig Zag”
“This was one of the last songs that I've made for the album. Every day, all I was doing was zigzagging, ducking and weaving from the problems of life. The chorus speaks to the insanity and claustrophobia of this moment. That, and I wanted to write a song that pulled some inspiration from early Beastie Boys records.” - source : Apple Music
