Irish artist Flexx Carter is set to release his powerful new collaboration “Hope” on October 9th, bringing together acclaimed Irish writer, poet and performer Daragh Fleming singer-songwriter Patrick Dowling for a deeply personal release centred around resilience, vulnerability and the experiences that shape us.
With October 10th marking World Mental Health Day, the timing of the release is particularly significant. Written from a place of personal experience, the track explores the emotional weight people carry through difficult periods of their lives, while ultimately delivering a message of perseverance and hope.
For Flexx Carter, the song became a form of therapy during an intensely turbulent period in his life.
“The track is about the pain and weight that all of us as humans have, and I believe we only have weight that we are capable of carrying. My own life was massively turbulent over the last two years and I've been building my music career in the middle of that storm, so this song was a sort of therapy for me to get it all off my chest and help people in the process.”
That experience forms the heart of the track. Having faced significant personal challenges while continuing to build his career, including the loss of his cousin to suicide, Flexx says the song is ultimately about continuing to move forward despite what life throws at you.
“I've had a lot of people try to throw a spanner in the works of my career, I've been set up, I've been stood on, kicked, and I've lost a cousin to suicide. Despite it all I'm still going, and the only difference is I'm stronger now than I was before all of that. If I can do it, so can anybody. My goal with this song is to inspire people to keep pushing forward.”
The Collaboration Built Through Art
The collaboration came together organically, with Flexx approaching both Patrick and Daragh after becoming a fan of their respective work.
“I listen to music and look at art as a fan and I was a huge fan of Patrick's music and his vocals. Same goes with Daragh, I regularly listened to his poems. I just asked both dudes if they'd be down to make some art and they were, and here we are.”
Patrick Dowling was brought into the track to write and perform the hook, adding his distinctive vocal style to Flexx's more introspective approach, while Daragh Fleming's creative influence brings an additional literary and spoken-word dimension to the collaboration.
The release also marks a coming together of three artists working across different creative disciplines, with music, poetry and personal storytelling meeting at the centre of the track.
By Flexx Carter, featuring Patrick Dowling & Daragh Fleming, releasing October 9th.
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