Qeeran pairs honeyed vocals with lovelorn lyrics on GIVE AND TAKE, the final single lifted from the singer-songwriter’s upcoming debut album.
Qeeran has today (March 17) released his latest single GIVE AND TAKE, a high-tempo R&B track that forms part of the Melbourne singer’s forthcoming album. The song sees Qeeran yearn for reciprocity in a relationship, lamenting the deception of his partner atop a sultry lo-fi beat. “I just wanna feel like I’m yours,” Qeeran pines in between soulful and honey-like vocal asides, “Is that so much to ask?”
Elsewhere on GIVE AND TAKE, Qeeran introduces a late-stage beat switch and whirring backing synths, which make way for an ascendent final chorus. Qeeran’s vocals remain the catchiest throughline of the single, with rich baritones that emphasise the singer’s calls for his partner to restore balance to their relationship. “Tell me sweet nothings,” he sings — almost languished — on the earworm of a chorus, “but don’t you lie to me.”
GIVE AND TAKE coasts by on sauntering production, which comes courtesy of Qeeran, who mixed and mastered the single himself. A beat that might be more suited the bedroom were it not for the song’s lovelorn lyrics, GIVE AND TAKE proves Qeeran’s versatility both as a songwriter and producer, with a slow-tempo bridge complete with echoey and distorted ad libs.
“[The song] voices out my frustration in giving too much for someone who may not necessarily deserve it,” Qeeran said in a press statement. “It is a true story of wanting to be shown reciprocation to feel loved, but not receiving it nearly enough, leaving behind feelings of resentment and eventually loss of deeper feelings for this particular person.”
GIVE AND TAKE is the final single to be lifted from Qeeran’s upcoming album IN RETROSPECT. Elsewhere, the singer’s debut project has spawned previous releases RIGHT HERE and LIKE YOUR MAN, which arrived ahead of the album’s release on April 17. Speaking of the project on social media, Qeeran described IN RETROSPECT as “one of the most rewarding, therapeutic, yet challenging things I’ve done in my 22 years of life so far.”
He continued: “This album is such an honest extract of myself and a true documentation of a boy just trying to navigate his 20’s – I couldn’t be more excited for you all to have this in your playlists.” IN RETROSPECT will serve as the follow-up to the singer’s debut EP The Cycle of Love, which arrived in 2021.
View this post on Instagram
Listen to Qeeran’s new single GIVE AND TAKE below, and keep an eye out for his forthcoming album next month.
