‘A Face In A Long Line’ is the opening track, first single and video clip to be released from Melbourne alt-country songwriter Mitch Dean’s debut solo album Holding Back The Levee, set for release on June 19.
“‘A Face In A Long Line’ is one that I really loved for its overall sound, and it encapsulates all the things I was trying to reach for. The story it tells feels very relevant for what our country and the whole world is going through right now,” Dean says of the single.
With a country-rock sway featuring strummed acoustic guitars and bittersweet, aching harmonica, it finds Mitch showcasing the soaring, tender melodies that he invests in his music. It’s a song that documents hardship and paints the portrait of a worker seeking to look after their family as the world twists and turns around them. It’s the harsh anonymity of becoming a statistic in troubled times.
Holding Back The Levee features guest vocals by Kevin Bennett, drums and electric guitar by Damian Cafarella (Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes), bass and backing vocals by James Gillard (The Flood, Mental As Anything) and Sam See (Sherbert, John Farnham) on piano and organ and takes influence from the timeless sound of Tom Petty, The Jayhawks, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Chris Robinson (Black Crowes).