Harry Strange retreats to his imaginary "Spare Room" on introspective new single

Creating his first two EPs while a student at Bristol University, musician Harry Strange is currently figuring out who he wants to be as he works towards releasing his third project. Still under construction, the new collection is set to deviate from 2019's flickering electronica-tinged Crying At The Party and 2020's muted-pop outing Something, Hold On.

Produced by frequent collaborator Jamie Clarke (aka Leeds-based indie act Sfven), there's an experimental folk aspect to "Spare Room" which ties into the fuzzy analogue thread of his latest singles "Dream About" and "I Like You". Tackling love and yearning, "Spare Room" sees Strange construct a safe place to park his animosity about a relationship that's already over.

"[This] is definitely a strong indication of the world that my music is beginning to belong to," Strange tells us. "A lot of my older material was heavily influenced by electronics and dance music but now I find myself being drawn towards the more raw and human instruments, but that being said," he continues, "I don’t want to hold myself to a certain sound; I just feel like you almost take away the fun of creating. The mystery of what will be created in a session is so exciting for me and I’d hate to remove such a mystery by enforcing a certain direction on the project."

The track reaches a fever pitch as Strange's vocals delightfully distort towards the end, while things are stripped-back to basics, this stark approach elevates Strange's voice more than any synth stabs could. Regarding the origins of the song, Strange reveals "whenever life’s getting a bit too much or when my mind's getting a bit too loud, I think of this particular place and everything settles. This song is almost an attempt to encapsulate that feeling and the nostalgia that surrounds it."

Recently featured as part of Spotify's Claim Your Space campaign for Pride 2021 which the streaming service hopes will "empower LGBTQIA+ listeners to safely and confidently claim space in the ways that they can—whether within a cultural tradition, a community, a dance floor, on Spotify itself—and create opportunities for affirmation, inspiration, and reflection," Strange explains why this experience feels like a milestone.

"Growing up there weren’t many prominent LGBTQ+ identifying artists to look up to and it was so easy to get it into my head that I couldn’t be a queer musician," he says, "so much has changed since then and I’ve grown so much in myself that landing that campaign was really a moment for me."

Discussing his artistic growth, Strange hopes it's been natural. "I’m extremely lucky because I have found a supportive group of people that happen to be insanely talented that have let me explore a variety of both sounds and styles," he explains. "As a result, I feel as if I’ve been able to grow pretty authentically. I’ve gone through moments of chasing certain trends and this works at a certain time, but I don’t believe it's that sustainable or even that enjoyable. I truly feel that in the last year or two I’ve found my own rhythm with creativity and I'm really comfortable in my own project and it's so exciting for me."

Looking towards summer, Strange is ready for some downtime with family and friends, but he's still got some work to do as well as some exciting announcements. Creating more visuals elements to accompany his music, is also a high priority. "As the project continues to evolve the music, as well as the visual identity, becomes more connected."