While the pandemic largely shut down the music industry in 2020, Kieran Lancini remained hard at work. His first single of 2021, “Hail Mary,” was co-written with Phil Barton during the dark days of lockdown.
“I, like everyone else, was feeling quite low during the pandemic with the daily deaths rising, feeling completely helpless. I found myself trying to make sense of it all—searching really quite deep in myself to remain positive and see that light at the end of the tunnel. This is what this song is about: hope, and finding that inner strength which I call a ‘miracle’ to make it through, and not being afraid to shout out to the universe that you need a bit of help.”
And when Lancini was feeling low, he reached out to Phil Barton; the two wrote “Hail Mary” over Zoom in under an hour. Barton, who previously wrote the No. 1 US hit “A Woman Like You” (Lee Brice), was introduced to Lancini 20 years ago after Lancini won Australian Star Maker. The two immediately hit it off and proved to have a prolific working relationship, writing an average of ten songs a week. After three years of collaboration, Lancini moved to London and put his music career on hold until last year, when he released two singles: “The Reason,” which reached #2 in the UK and #15 on the Australian iTunes Country Chart, and “I Need You,” which reached #7 on the UK iTunes Chart and #9 on Australia Country Radio. For both songs, Lancini worked with Barton.
“We know each other so well that the writing process with him is very easy and laid back. The man is a songwriting genius!”
Barton and Lancini certainly make a strong songwriting team, as evidenced by “Hail Mary,” available now for pre-order with an April 8 release date. The two managed to capture the atmosphere of 2020 and produce a song that acknowledges the spectrum of emotions brought on by the tumultuous year, from desperation and resignation to hope. As we attempt to get back to “normal” in fits and starts, this feels like a song that can give us the strength we need to make it through to the end.
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