South African indie pop band December Streets releases new single

Most recently producing critically acclaimed singles such as Wild Heart, Summertime and Messed Up, the band has taken some time off to travel the world and hit the studio, and had the time to grow personally, and as a collective, to work on new material that plays to their experiences.

2020 has kicked off with a bang for the band, recently being added to the Global Citizen #TogetherAtHome campaign which lends their voice as SA’s second music act on the bill to fight the pandemic currently gripping the world and creating awareness about social distancing in these uncertain times. The campaign has reached a global audience and elevates the band’s presence across the world. 

Following the much-anticipated release and success of their hugely popular singles Summertime and Messed Up earlier in 2019, the band have announced the release of their eagerly awaited new single this year, titled, Haters.

Haters for the Underdogs

The band attribute the track’s creation from growing up with a lot of haters casting shade on their dreams of being in a successful band, but instead of letting the negativity get to them, they channelled their negativity into a powerful drive to prove them wrong. Years later, they finally have the opportunity to use their platform and success to share this message to any underdogs or outliers out there, who feel the hurt and impact others (consciously or not) have on them with insensitive judgement. 

From the band’s perspective, the fundamental conception of this track comes from their journey through a tough musical landscape, where they have learnt to rather embrace their natural and unique identity as artists, songwriters and as individuals. Not conforming to pre-conceptions or allowing negativity from others to impact us all, instead of flaunting our individuality. 

The song explores the theme of being content and proud of who we are, sending a message out to those who doubted them. It takes a humorous approach to a very real topic and flaunts being comfortable in your own skin in the face of opposition. 

“This is one of my favourite tracks we’ve written. Haters combines all the groovy rhythms with a powerful message of solidarity between outliers, sandwiched in a confident, carefree vibe. My hope for this song is that anyone who has their unique flair suppressed (for whatever reason), uses this song and message as a shield to negativity. If just one person comes to the realisation that their unique identity and personality is exactly what makes them golden, and silences their haters to their core, then we’ve succeeded,”says band frontman, Tristan Coetzee.

Vocalist, Dane Steinhobel agrees:

“This is a track that challenges the status quo of what is required to be considered popular and perhaps even questions the desire to want to be popular in and of itself. This is achieved by poking fun at things that are traditionally assumed to increase social hierarchy while on the other hand celebrating, or encouraging us to care less about, things that are considered to decrease popularity. At the very least I hope that when people listen to the track Haters that it will inspire them to take life and be a part of the in-crowd with a pinch of salt.”

Download the single

The Haters single is available to download on major music platforms here.

Watch the music video:

Keep an eye on the band’s social media platforms for upcoming events in your area or live streams around the world.

Let the underdogs rise, and the “Haters” listen.

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