Sola Rosa Returns With New Single 'Tears Roll Down' Featuring AKOSIA

Nov 14, 2024

Sola Rosa, the long-running project of New Zealand’s Andrew Spraggon, makes a striking return with the new single 'Tears Roll Down', a collaboration with Melbourne-based vocalist AKOSIA. Over the years, Spraggon has honed a sound that blends soul, funk, hip-hop, and electronica, steadily expanding the scope of what a beat-driven project can achieve. With 'Tears Roll Down', he pushes his music into more emotionally raw territory, thanks in large part to AKOSIA’s evocative, powerful vocal performance, which transforms the track from a polished groove into something far more arresting.

The single is the first release from Sola Rosa’s forthcoming EP, slated for early 2025, and the first new music since 2020’s Chasing The Sun—an album that earned widespread praise, including a four-star review in Mojo Magazine. It’s a fitting way to mark the project’s 25th anniversary, a testament to Spraggon’s ability to evolve while keeping his signature sound intact, and his knack for working with fresh collaborators who push his music into new directions.

Spraggon first crossed paths with AKOSIA in 2023 during a writing session in Melbourne, arranged by his music publisher. Reflecting on their first meeting, he says: “I was heading into sessions with artists I didn’t know but thought could align with the music I was making. AKOSIA stood out straight away—there was this fearless vulnerability she brought to the room, diving deep into the material in a way that took me by surprise. Her lyrical, technical, and emotional instincts were razor-sharp, and we clicked creatively almost instantly.”

Their second collaboration, 'Tears Roll Down', took shape on a particularly tough day for AKOSIA, after a fight with her boyfriend at the time. “She wasn’t sure if she wanted to channel all that raw emotion into the song,” Spraggon recalls, “but we decided to run with it. She already had the lyrics and melody worked out and knew exactly how she wanted the track to feel. It was a new challenge for me—I’m usually more of a beatmaker than a classic songwriter. But this time, we wrote the music to fit her lyrics and melody, and the result is something we’re both incredibly proud of.”

Now streaming on all platforms, 'Tears Roll Down' offers a glimpse into what’s next for Sola Rosa as the project approaches its 25th anniversary—proving that, even after all these years, Spraggon’s sound is still evolving and capable of surprise.

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