Hey Student listeners–check out this hot new single Stick to What You Know from UK’s Sarpa Salpa. The band’s previous single (Forwards Backwards released May 2020) was picked up by the UK’s Student Radio Association and curated onto an official playlist for over 100 University radio stations around the UK. Stick to What You Know will likely be popping up on student playlists all over the globe.
And I can see why. Stick to What You Know radiates an inviting youthful optimism and takes no time in getting moving. The song kicks off with a strong, compelling beat sprinkled heavily with warm hues of disco and mesmerizing group vocals. Even if you don’t like dancing, you’ll be hard pressed to keep your knees from falling into the stride of the rhythm. Smooth, clear lead vocal work intertwines with crisp, catchy melodic lines on the electric guitar. Just to keep it edgy, the happy, innocent disco beat of the chorus erupts and climaxes into swift, hard hits on the drum kit and dirtier, grittier electric guitar backgrounds. The combination is perhaps a musical description of the inward posture of our Student and Millennial population–holding the tensions of a young, happy optimism toward life alongside the grittier realities of an increasingly uncertain future. Well said.
It’s all a fitting vehicle for the message. Says Sarpa Salpa‘s lead singer Marcus Marooth, Stick to What You Know is “about finding something that you love and pursing it with everything you’ve got. There is a lot of pressure in society to find a job, settle down then rinse and repeat. This track is about not settling for that 9-5 job you hate for the rest of your life.” We’re glad they haven’t settled.
The band formed in Northampton in 2017 and is comprised of Marcus (vocals), George (guitar), Ethan (bass) & Charlie (drums). Meg (synths) came on board of August 2019, along with a rapid and steady stream of support and promotion from BBC Radio 1 for the band’s single Casanova followed by Before it Goes Dark. Despite putting their last tour on hold like many bands have as a result of the pandemic, Sarpa Salpa‘s steady momentum keeps rolling with more studio production and another tour booked for March 2021.
Stick to What you Know and Forwards Backwards are both featured on Sarpa Salpa‘s next sophomore EP expected to be released in early 2021.
