KEA (Michaels) is a young soul singer from Pittsburgh and she’s a well-loved player in that city’s vibrant music scene. That status had been built on her regular gigging and a series of fine singles and an EP, released since she debuted in 2017.
Those early singles were that 2017 debut, ‘I Love You’, written when Kea’s young daughter was battling a kidney disorder: the defiant ‘Not My Friend’, penned about a woman breaking free from an abusive relationship; her powerful testimony in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, ‘Holla If You Hear Me’; and last year’s encouraging ‘Turn It Around’.
Kea’s onwards and upwards trajectory is now set to continue as she prepares to release a new single… ‘We Made It Thru’, due March 31st. The song rides a celebratory up-tempo groove but once again there’s a message in the music. Essentially “anyone can conquer their circumstances and challenges with perseverance and a grateful heart”. The song’s danceability and drive and the singer’s believable performance enhance the spirit of determination, tenacity and resilience.
Kea says: “My goal was to make the song about a woman’s need for healing and self-love. The reality is that we face unfortunate happenings every day and yet find a way to make it through. I purposely made it ‘We Made It Thru’ because I’m making music that we relate to ‘together.’ This isn’t a KEA thing, but an ‘our’ thing and an ‘us’ thing,” . The passion with which she delivers ‘We Made It Thru’ possibly comes from the fact that Kea recently lost her mother: “I consulted with my mother before she passed and added biblical context to the lyrics, reminiscent of how the bible speaks of signs of the times in Matthew 24.”
KEA’S ‘We Made It Thru’ is released March 31st via Bread & Butter Productions.
