Growing Concerns Poetry Collective have been here since their 2017 debut—but if you’re just now noticing, the project is the work of Chicago artists Mykele Deville, McKenzie Chinn, and Jeffrey Michael Austin. The trio merge their love for poetry and hip-hop—not to mention their growing list of political and social concerns—into a laid-back sound that takes a deeply psychedelic turn on their latest single from their forthcoming second record, BIG DARK BRIGHT FUTURES, which drops this Friday.
“Come to Me Open” opens with Chinn’s recitation of poetry over ambient sounds before the track opens up into an intense beat and whirring feedback accompanied by Deville’s raps midway through. “The struggle for liberation is all encompassing,” he shares on behalf of the group, introducing the song. “We not only fight for the freedom to live, we fight to liberate ourselves from toxicity and hardened hearts. ‘Come to Me Open’ declares consent, intimacy, and communication as necessary tools in the revolution to come.”
The track arrives with a visual that syncs up with the song’s two disparate—though intricately linked—halves, directed by Chicago filmmakers New Trash and filmed by Jana McLain. Per Deville, “It’s a cosmic representation of spirits ascending and merging through the chaos and noise of our time.”
Watch it below, and pre-order the record here.
