A Great Big World has a great big hit out of “Say Something,” but if you think the sobering breakup/saying goodbye/losing a loved one ballad is all they have up their musical sleeves, think again.
When they take the stage at the Oro Valley Music Festival on Sunday, Oct. 14, they’ll introduce us to their theatrical side.
“We are like a theatrical kind of rock show,” pianist/vocalist songwriter Ian Axel said on the phone with the Star and his longtime songwriting partner Chad King. “It’s definitely rockier than our recordings. A lot of our songs are — contrary to ‘Say Something’ — just really upbeat and positive. There’s definitely a lot of sound.”
When we caught up with the pair late last month, they were giddy after hearing that a song they wrote for Andrea Bocelli — yep, that Andrea Bocelli, the classical music-pop crossover superstar — is part of the soundtrack for Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” due out Nov. 2. Bocelli recorded the song, “Fall On Me,” as a duet with his son Matteo.
“We were specifically asked to write a ballad because that’s right up our alley and ... it ends up being a duet between him and his son Matteo,” Axel said.
“It’s so beautiful and mind-blowing,” added King. “We never really had this kind of experience where another artist kind of takes the song and runs with it, especially an artist like Andrea Bocelli. It’s completely out of our control. We get to see our song take on a life of its own in a place that we could have never brought it.”
King and Axel are equally as excited about their own new single, “You,” which went to radio in September. The pair will soon film a video for the song, which is inspired by Axel’s now 18-month-old son, Bowie.
“It was one of the most cathartic writing experiences that we’ve ever had, and it’s one of my proudest personal songs because it means so much to me,” said the 33-year-old songwriter, who began working on the song not long after finding out that his wife was pregnant.
The song will likely land on a record that the pair are working on. It follows “Younger,” a single they released several months ago.
“We’re kind of planning on releasing music slowly, little by little,” Axel said. “I think we are taking our time. Most people just consume singles today. We want to make sure we have a consistent stream of content coming out.”
“And we want to make sure that all the songs on the record have a life, and this gives them the best chance, doing it this way,” added King, 33.
Expect to hear both songs when they join the Oro Valley Music Festival on Sunday with Switchfoot, O.A.R., Mat Kearney and EDM-pop artist MAX. But King and Axel know that the big moment of their show will come with “Say Something.”
“The song has become so big and it’s so awesome to see so many interpretations of the meaning behind it,” said King. “We are sometimes hesitant to even speak about the meaning for us because of that. We don’t want that to become the meaning for anyone else.”
“There was a long time when I sang that, it was incredibly personal to me when I was on stage. I was still dealing with those emotions, drowning from that experience,” he explained.
But since he got married and started a family, singing the song has become akin to an out-of-body experience, he said.
“It just feels like I’m singing a cover of it,” he said. “I love performing it and it’s incredible seeing everyone singing the words. It’s really amazing to me that we were a part of something that everybody knows.”
