Iconic country music singer Dolly Parton made the leap into electronic dance music (EDM) with a new track out with the Swedish DJ duo Galantis released Friday.
The song titled, “Faith,” featuring Dutch singer Mr. Probz, is slated to appear on Galantis’ third album to be released next spring called “Church,” the pair’s first album since “The Aviary” in 2017.
In the song’s colorful music video, Parton plays a bus driver when the bus abruptly breaks down in an open field. The disgruntled passengers are encouraged by Parton not to panic and to “have a little faith,” followed by Mr. Probz’s opening lyrics.
As Mr. Probz continues to sing, the vehicle’s passengers’ spirits begin to brighten up and they eventually start dancing accompanied by the Galantis duo, staying true to form, dancing on top of the broken-down bus while Parton sings from the driver’s seat.
“Faith” is Parton’s first EDM track, and the music video was filmed near Nashville.
“I thought, ‘Why can’t I fit in there? I’ve been everywhere else. Why can’t I go there?” Parton told ET on set in Tennessee of dipping her feet into a new genre. “I’m driving the bus, and I guess it’s kinda like traveling life’s highways. If I was the bus driver, I’d have to shine.”
The Galantis pair were the ones to reach out out to Parton to be on their rework of John Hiatt’s 1987 single, “Have A Little Faith in Me.”
“They were trying to track me down,” Parton told the Rolling Stone. “I guess Linus [Eklöw] and Christian [Karlsson], who are Galantis, had this song and they supposedly both were fans of mine.”
“She has always been one of our dream collaborators, but we honestly thought getting her on the song was a total longshot,” Eklöw told the music magazine.
After Parton listened to the track they prepared, she was onboard.
“As soon as I heard it, I thought, ‘Yes! This is a song that the world needs right now,’” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s all about uplifting mankind and believing in a higher power. All the things we need in this dark, ol’ dreary world right now.”
The uplifting nature of the work is the primary theme of Galantis’ album “Church,” set to debut next year.
“It’s important to us to have meaning behind our music,” Galantis told ET in a statement. “Our album ‘Church’ doesn’t necessarily refer to a building or specific religion, but instead to people banded together in similar belief for a better humanity. Whether it’s advocating peace, change, or just lifting each other up – that is our ‘Faith’ and ‘Church.’”
