Under Pressure is the brand new single from Graham J.

Delivered with the usual flawless vocal from the Irishman, It’s Graham’s homage to the Queen / David Bowie classic and is released via MREX on Oct 26th, the very same day as the original was back in 1981.

Taken from his forthcoming album Songs My Disco Taught Me #SMD™ .

Graham explains the inspiration behind the track “As a child of the 80’s I was surrounded by some incredible aural and visual stimulation. Top of the Pops was a regular feature in our living room. We’d crowd around the tv to watch the latest acts on the tv. I remember seeing the video for “There must be an Angel” for the first time. Annie Lennox dressed up as an operatic Diva at the court of the Sun King. The cool countertenor singing in the background. Little did I know years later I would become one. The same thing applies to my first hearing of the incredible voice Jimmy Somerville. It was a natural choice for me to choose songs by these artists for my new album #SMD™. I learned a lot about theatricality and story telling from Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. I can still vividly recall watching the footage of Live Aid in TV and seeing Freddie Mercury’s command of the huge crowd in Wembley Stadium and realising that’s what a star was.

“I’ve chosen “Under Pressure” as the first single for release from #SMD™ as it’s a song I’ve always heard played and instinctively sing along to. When I sat down to study this incredibly complex song, I was struck by the powerful meaning of the lyrics. It was this first time that I’ve ever looked at them properly. They are incredibly pertinent to the troubles we face today. When you think about global poverty and people cracking under the pressure of trying to make ends meet. The message of the song is simple. We’ve forgotten to care about each other. We need to remember to do it.

I had originally thought about recording the song as a duet where I’d sing both parts. I went to my producer Paul Murphy and told him I’d like to do it. I told him I’d also like to record the iconic bass line vocally. This sparked off Paul’s incredible brain and he came up with the amazing arrangement we have here. It was a lot of hard work to record all the vocal lines but so much fun. Paul has weaved a masterpiece out of my vocal noodling. “

A second single from the album is planned before the album officially hits the UK retailers.