Don Arnold/WireImageAustralian singer/songwriter Dean Lewis first broke through internationally with his hit “Waves,” which went triple platinum Down Under. Now, his song “Be Alright” is climbing the U.S. charts. It went to #1 in Australia and made him an award-winning star, but Dean says in America, he’s basically starting all over again.
“You’re going from playing festivals [and] everyone singing [your songs] back [to you], to doing smaller rooms,” he tells ABC Radio. “It can kinda feel like you’re stuck in a time warp and you’re not progressing, but I think that’s just what you have to do: pay your dues…and just do it and do it — but then you see it grow.”
“Be Alright” is about surviving a romantic breakup, and Dean says he’s glad the song’s the one that most U.S. fans are first hearing from him.
“It’s quite a unique, odd song, I guess. I don’t know why it’s connecting,” he says. “Maybe it’s just kind of a unique concept…there hasn’t been a song like that for a while. But I feel very lucky because…the way that I write songs is super-first-person, and that’s sort of a good introduction.”
“Be Alright” isn’t just about one particular relationship, though one part was taken directly from the advice Dean’s brother gave him after a breakup.
“The chorus is about when I went to my brother’s house and [he] literally said to me, ‘You’ll be alright.’ We had a drink and he said…’Give me the girl’s number, and you delete it from your phone, but I’ll have it in my phone if you need it.'”
“So when I say [in the song], ‘put the phone away’…it’s sort of autobiographical, combined with some elements and crazy stories from friends,” he says.
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