New Zealand four-piece Drax Project are back with “Firefly,” a sublime new collaboration with Fetty Wap featuring AACACIA. Last year, Drax released the fun, catchy video “Woke Up Late.”
Firefly” sees the quartet lean further into their R&B sensibilities and adopt a more mature sound, all while keeping their signature jazz licks and impeccable vibes intact. By fusing the stylings of Drax Project and Fetty Wap, “Firefly” is rich in enticing vocals, instrumentation, and iconic Fetty ad-libs, generating an intoxicating and timeless track. The track arrives alongside a visual that takes viewers on a journey through a magical bonfire party filled with a piano camp-fire, Fetty Wap apparition, love at first sight and incendiary dance moves.
Written in Los Angeles with acclaimed producers Rogét Chahayed (Travis Scott, Drake) and Imad Royal(Panic! At The Disco, The Chainsmokers), the track/video united an all-star team bringing together crew members from renowned films such as The Hobbit Trilogy, Mission Impossible, King Kong, Lord of the Rings Trilogy and more. Singing on the bridge is New Zealand singer/songwriter AACACIA, who landed on the band’s radar after winning a competition to perform “Catching Feelings” with the group at Rhythm and Vines Festival last year.
“Firefly” marks Drax Project’s first new release since the delivery of their self-titled debut album last fall. Since returning to New Zealand due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the boys of Drax Project have done some soul-searching and have honed in on utilizing their platforms for advocacy, such as the legalization of marijuana, breast cancer awareness and indigenous language preservation. The personal and artistic growth Drax Project has undergone is evident on “Firefly” and only scratches the surface of what’s to come from the kiwi group.
“We were finishing up a session with our good friends Rogét Chahayed and Imad Royal in Los Angeles. After a day of writing another song, we were basically walking out the door when Ben started playing the guitar line out of nowhere. We were all keen to wrap up as it was getting late, but as soon as Rogét and Imad heard the guitar line, it was all on. Rogét dropped the piano in, we started cooking the beat and within a couple of minutes Shaan had the hook “Hey little Firefly”.
A few months earlier we’d taken a trip to Long Island with a friend of ours; the sun was setting on a mint day when out of the blue, all these fireflies came out, buzzed around and basically said ‘hi’. It was crazy because none of us had ever seen them before. That experience stuck with us and probably played a big part in inspiring the song!
After listening back to the demo, we decided we wanted to add a full brass section and some other voices because we all felt the song suited a big group party vibe. We’ve loved Fetty for ages, so when he wanted to jump on we were absolutely fizzing… Even more so when he sent through the verse he wrote! We wanted to add some feminine energy too, so we asked Aacacia bring the silk to the bridge. We love working with other artists and having the three different voices in there really helped take the song to another level!”
– Drax Project
