Los Angeles-based producer, singer-songwriter Stephen Swartz, known by his stage name Stephen, has unveiled his latest single "Crossfire." The "Fly Down" musician crafts his softest track to date that starts to give a more complete picture of the rebranding that began a couple years ago after Swartz dropped out of Miami with only a year to go, moved to Los Angeles and completely reshaped his music that will eventually form into an album.
"Crossfire" is his slowest track yet, using Glitch Mob-esque effects on vocal shouts to assist the melody as he then croons out his melancholic vocals. Then dark distorted bass lines are introduced at a slow and measured pace to carry the track to its eventual finish. Each ditched and vocal component is woven expertly in between the various elements of bass.
"Crossfire" has a deeper message that Stephen is trying to convey about his place in the world and how some people are suffering so much, while he lives in relative luxury.
"There are people out there who are suffering and there's very little they can do about it," he explains to Complex UK. "Sometimes I feel guilty when I'm happy because I know that these people are hurting. How can I be happy when I know that people are being forced to live in refugee camps and ghettos, while women are being sex trafficked and millions of innocent people are suffering? So as I sit here and look at my life, I feel grateful, but I also feel confused."
Stephen Swartz first burst onto the electronic music scene with his single "Bullet Train" that quickly went viral and had labels calling his name. He released a few more tracks, but soon decided that melodic dubstep route was not the right path and picked everything up, moved to LA, joined the team that manages Krewella and started fresh with the Stephen project.
Stream "Crossfire" below and pick up a copy on iTunes via his co-owned record label Halfway House Records.
