Conrad Sewell is the voice on the new dance smash Firestone with Kygo, and he’s preparing to launch his career with new single Hold Me Up.
The Australian singer-songwriter has written hits for artists in his home country and is now ready to launch himself as a solo artist. For his forthcoming album he’s worked with an all-star team of writers and producers, including Jamie Hartman (Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone), Sam Hollander (Train, One Direction), and Eric Rosse (Sara Bareilles, Gavin Degraw).
“Finding a sound is everything,” says Conrad, “Especially since I love so many types of music and grew up listening to so many types of music. With my voice, I can sing a lot of different styles, and it was a real struggle to hone in on one thing. So since this is the first thing people are going to hear from me, I wanted to focus on the songwriting—write songs that I felt were timeless or represented what I really wanted to say.”
Conrad’s album draws from a wide range of sounds and styles including pop, dance, rock, and even gospel.
With the success of Firestone, which has had over 100 million streams on Spotify to date, Conrad felt it was the right time to step into the spotlight with his solo material. Talking about Firestone he says, “I thought ‘Firestone’ was a great title for a song, it sounded epic. Kygo heard it and loved it, and he sent back a first draft with that amazing keyboard line. It wasn’t what I was expecting—I was thinking it would be a big EDM thing—but after a couple of listens, I loved it.”
Conrad’s album is due for release later this year. Watch him performing Firestone below:
Stopped by @TwitterAU to give them an acoustic performance of @KygoMusic & I's #FIRESTONE in the #BlueRoom!
https://t.co/0Mu0hM90KD
— Conrad Sewell (@Conrad_Official) April 7, 2015
