Stubborn Heart, the London-based duo of Luca Santucci and Ben Fitzgerald, have returned today, more than eight years on from their beloved self-titled debut album. They haven’t been inactive in the interim, working behind the scenes with plenty of genre-pushing artists, but they’re coming back into the spotlight when they release new album Made of Static on June 4.
The news brings with it the album’s opening track, “Talking Gold”, a song of yearning and desolation delivered over texturally diverse synths and beats – both gritty and glistening. “I’m here to pick up the pieces,” Santucci laments at the very start, his bruised and delicate voice placing us right inside his dejected soul. As he continues down this trail of self-despair and numbness, the pair’s production whooshes around, enclosing his isolated soul in a spectral and beautiful sonic tomb. The juxtaposition of sorry sentiments with such lively and creative sounds has a transfixing effect, and in “Talking Gold” Stubborn Heart have given us a unique vision of future R&B.
Listen to “Talking Gold” below or on your preferred streaming platform.
Stubborn Heart’s new album Made of Static arrives on June 4 via One Little Independent (pre-order). You can find the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
