Listen to Leon Bridges' New Single "Sweeter" Featuring Terrace Martin
“Written from the perspective of a black man taking his last breath and feeling his spirit leave his body.”
After releasing the timely track “Inside Friend” featuring John Mayer last month, Leon Bridges has returned with a soft and impassioned single titled “Sweeter.” This time, the singer has tapped fellow artist Terrace Martin for a mellow yet sorrowful record that was “written from the perspective of a black man taking his last breath and feeling his spirit leave his body.”
The song was originally intended for a future album, but the singers decided to release the track early “in light of current events,” according to a press release. “Hoping for a life more sweeter. Instead, I’m just a story repeating,” the chorus states. “Why do I fear with skin dark as night? Can’t feel peace with those judging eyes.”
Bridges also shared a statement with the song:
“Growing up in Texas I have personally experienced racism, my friends have experienced racism. From adolescence, we are taught how to conduct ourselves when we encounter police to avoid the consequences of being racially profiled. I have been numb for too long, calloused when it came to the issues of police brutality. The death of George Floyd was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. It was the first time I wept for a man I never met. I am George Floyd, my brothers are George Floyd, and my sisters are George Floyd. I cannot and will not be silent any longer. Just as Abel’s blood was crying out to God, George Floyd is crying out to me. So, I present to you Sweeter.”
Martin added: “This is meditation music; it is not music for the ears but rather music for the heart.”
Listen to “Sweeter” now in the player above or stream it below.
For more in music, check out SiR’s emotional new cover of The Isley Brothers‘ “Footsteps in the Dark.”
