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STEPHEN FLY DOWN

Mononymous crooner Stephen has been pretty much silent since his stellar debut track, 'Bullet Train', appeared online in 2012. Finding the pressure to conform with major labels banging down his door - racking up over 100,000,000 plays will do that - Stephen dropped out of Miami college, moved to Hollywood, and disappeared into himself. Until last month, that is, when he resurfaced with the far more streamlined, soulful 'Remembering Myself', a reflective R&B composition which looks back on the past three years of being worn out by the music industry. 'Fly Down' is the second smooth, emotive cut from his as-yet-unnamed full-length debut, a record written in the midst of an identity crisis it seems. Packing stormy piano progressions and pulsating electronics neatly alongside his own rich baritone, Stephen creates an atmosphere of blissful escapism from a world that was never quite ready for a soul as sensitive as his. Things are different now, welcome back Stephen. - DC

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