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Hot off the heels of his impressive CMA Fest debut, Stephen Wilson Jr. has released a brand new song, ‘Father's Søn’.
The simmering, evocative track carries the same angst and intensity of other much-loved songs in Stephen Wilson Jr.'s repertoire, such as ‘Holler from the Holler’, ‘billy’ and ‘the devil’.
However, this latest release, which has been aptly timed for Father's Day, is underpinned by a moving sense of vulnerability and a willingness to dig to the depth's of his identity, even if it means tearing down the very foundation he's drawn stability and comfort from in the past.
It's as intricate as it is thought-provoking, as Stephen Wilson Jr. examines the tension between attempting to live up to your father's example, while at the same time striving to carve your own path and consolidate your own, unique place in the world (“I've never known better, yeah / 'Cause every bone's tethered / You wanna change my name? Gotta drain my blood / 'Cause everything I am's everything you was”).
Heartwarmingly, by the time we reach the conclusion of ‘Father's Søn’, Stephen Wilson Jr. finds peace and pride in his heredity, as he stops fighting against the prospect of being exactly like his pops (“I wear his blue jean jacket and his name like a badge of honour / I used to hate being called Junior / I don't mind any longer”).
On his socials, the Southern Indiana native explained the deeply personal meaning behind ‘Father's Søn’, “Being born in the shadow of a man greater than his name and to be given the same, I was gifted with this song as an attempt to rationalize my inherent conflict between heredity and identity. Am I me or am I him, and who is he? Whoever I was before died with him, and now I am what I am with a mighty anchor that is his legacy dragging an ocean floor full of formative memories”.
Stephen Wilson Jr. is currently in the UK ahead of his eagerly anticipated appearance at Black Deer Festival 2023. The country and Americana prodigy is then supporting Drake White on his UK & Ireland tour, with shows lined up in London, Manchester and more.
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