KAMERON MARLOWE & ELLA LANGLEY - Strangers - Columbia Nashville

Country music is seeing new talents arrive with intriguing songs, captivating voices, crafted melodies, and an uncanny ability to deliver what so many are longing for through a neo-traditional resurgence that’s teetering the edge of modern with a foot firmly planted on the foundations.

Among those brightly shining new stars, both Kameron Marlowe and Ella Langley have quickly stamped their names; Marlowe with songs such as “Giving You Up” and “Girl On Fire,” and Langley with “Country Boy’s Dream Girl” and her duet with Koe Wetzel, “That’s Why We Fight.”

The two sensations have now come together on “Strangers.”

The song, co-written by Kameron, Langley, Will Bundy, and Chase McGill, first positioned itself for its official strike by catching a tremendous amount of social media buzz, garnering an impressive 2 million views on TikTok while setting its strong impact in motion as it resonates an all too frequent subject of navigating the treacherous idea of trying to still be friends after a breakup.

On the back of an addictive, waltz-infused melody, we’re transported to a dusty old barstool inside of our favorite watering hole as Marlowe pours into the opening line of the song, “okay we’re breaking up, it is what it is,” before setting the heartbreaking aftermath in motion with the prognostic idea that they can still be friends.

Both singer-songwriters maturely spell out what being friends would actually look like from their perspective, he singing that “I’ll see you out on the town one Friday night, get to talking, crossing lines” while she laments, “damned if we don’t, dammed if we do, it’s a catch 22,” as they fully embrace the situation with a punch in the chorus that sees them exuding pure emotion as they bring their voices together to face the truth:

“We can’t be friends, we can’t be lovers

We can’t be weekend drinking leaning on each another

We can’t be falling off the wagon

Talking ‘bout what happened

Where does that leave you and me

There’s too much love, there’s too much anger

We can’t be friends and we can’t be strangers”

An all too often scenario of letting go, holding on, and realizing your heart can’t handle it either way, dusted masterfully in an irresistible throwback aura, perfectly balances heartache into a powerfully relatable piece that sets the new year off with a truly buzzworthy performance that accentuates the strongest qualities of two of the hottest young talents in country music today.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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