The reggae-inspired single is available now
Christmas is just around the corner, but Kristian Bush is feeling the summertime vibes with his new island version of his song “Sweet Love,” which is available now.
“When I started experimenting with which songs of mine might work through the rhythms of island afternoons, this was one of the first songs I tried,” Bush states. It worked so well that the song convinced me to reimagine the others.”
“Sweet Love (Island Version)” is Bush’s third song he’s redelivered Sunny Side Up, and follows island versions of “House On A Beach” and “Little Umbrellas.” “Sweet Love,” which Bush wrote with Sherrié Austin, Phil Barton and Jeff Cohen, is from Bush’s debut solo album Southern Gravity. The song was inspired by a nickname he used for his children and those closest to him.
Bush and his co-writers were more than halfway finished with a separate song when Barton started talking about a relationship that just ended.
“He said he missed his sweet love,” Bush recalled. “I said, ‘Wait, you use that term, too?'”
Bush smiled at Barton, picked up his guitar and started singing the first line: “Oh sweet love, why you gotta give up?”
“We wrote the song quickly,” Bush said. “We all smiled at how easy and fast and focused and simple it was.”
Bush believes “Sweet Love” worked so beautifully as an island version because “confessional relationship love songs are the secret language of reggae.”
“This felt like a hand-in-a-glove fit,” Bush said.
Last month, Bush released Twinkle and Tinsel, his lo-fi Christmas chill EP. The collection features “Candy Cane,” “Snow Globe,” and others. Bush crafted the six-song EP with his brother Brandon Bush and their frequent collaborator Benji Shanks, as part of their lo-fi chill project Cabin Chill which is available on all streaming services.
