Ever since I heard Parson James‘ soulful, honey-coated vocals set against the warm & breezy tropical house vibes in KYGO‘s massively popular “Stole The Show,” I (along with the rest of the internet) have been eagerly awaiting more. Well, that day is finally here. Parson James will release his highly-anticipated debut EP, The Temple EP on February 5th (RCA Records), featuring 5 original tracks, including the singer/songwriter’s latest single “Temple,” his original version of “Stole The Show,” the fiery buzz track “Sinner Like You” as well as two previously un-released songs—”Slow Dance With The Devil” and “Waiting Game.” Listen to the recently released Hitimpulse remix of “Temple” below.
In addition to this exciting new EP announcement, Parson James also treated fans to a powerful new mini-documentary entitled “A Sinner Like You” (watch BELOW). The emotional clip, which premiered last week on i-D Magazine, beautifully documents the young artist’s return home, telling his story in his own words.
Listening to James talk about growing up as a gay, bi-racial boy in the deep-south, you can’t help but be moved. Surrounded by a culture of close-mindedness, racism and even abuse—Parson explains how songwriting became his savior, giving him strength when he needed it the most. Having grown up in an area that was more accepting of my coming out story, I can’t help but feel both sad and fortunate. Sad because there are places in this country where a child can’t be himself without fear of ridicule and pain. Fortunate because my own upbringing was filled with love and acceptance. While we have seen great change here in America these past couple of years, there are still parts of the country, in which hate and ignorance are so deeply entrenched into the culture that all we can do is hope for some sort of a shift towards acceptance.
“A Sinner Like You” was directed by Duncan and Stuart Winecoff of All:Expanded and features one of the new songs from The Temple EP, “Waiting Game.” Parson James has been traveling the world recently in support of KYGO‘s “Stole The Show,” performing most recently on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The song peaked at No. 4 on the Global Spotify Chart and has over 320 million Spotify streams reported worldwide. The song also hit the No. 1 spot on the Hype Machine chart and peaked in the Top 10 on the Shazam Worldwide chart. Parson James is currently hard at work on his debut album, due out later this year on RCA Records and while he has yet to announce any solo live dates, he will be making some summer festival appearances, including Firefly (June 16 – 19).
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