As if Barbados wasn’t hot enough, it’s positively scorching thanks to the island’s sizzling new talent Callum Wright. His new single 1.2.3 is the most ridiculously infectious slice of uplifting summery pop in years, guaranteed to make you reach for the nearest mojito by the end of the first chorus.
1.2.3 showcases Callum’s unique Island Pop style, a fusion of his native Barbados’ love of reggae and soca with the mainstream pop he grew up listening to on the radio. It’s instant to know that anyone capable of creating a song as catchy as 1.2.3 is a pop hit machine in waiting.
Aged only 20, Callum still lives in Barbados. So why does he want to leave an island paradise to make it big in rainy old Britain? “Barbados is a bubble,” he shrugs, suddenly serious. “I need to get out of Barbados to feel like I’ve truly made an impact with my music.” It helps that, for Callum, Britain is a home from home, as his father is from Manchester.
That blunt attitude is typical of Callum’s determination to be involved in every step of his music, as he co-writes and co-produces every song, working with a mix of new talent like production duo A Is For Robot and established Sia writer Kevin Malpass.
For a song about how love should be as easy as 1.2.3, the single itself was pretty simple for Callum to create too. “I was playing the piano, and the melody came in about 10 minutes,” he smiles. It’s based on two married couples Callum saw having dinner, one still madly in love, the other frosty with each other. “I wrote it from the point of view of the couple who were infatuated, not being able to understand why the other couple made it look so difficult to be together.”
