Pio Hartnett Issues Second Single, ‘Grand Prix,' From Upcoming Debut EP

By Jessel Thomas First Posted: Apr 11, 2022 04:25 AM EDT

Alternative singer-songwriter and producer Pio Hartnett released his brand-new single "Grand Prix," on all streaming services on April 8.

(Photo : FlutterTone)

"Grand Prix" is a song Hartnett wrote looking back on a summer when his mother sent him and his sister to extra Irish lessons in his teens.

"Being away from my school environment, and what people thought of me in my hometown, was really freeing. I remember this cool girl, and the shocking realization that she could actually like me," Hartnett said.

"Going to a new place, or meeting someone who has this power to inspire something in you - that helps me find something new, and go into another gear. So it's about that in a way," he added.

The hopeful yet melancholic track was always intended by Hartnett and his collaborator Zak Higgins for release in the springtime. New beginnings and possibilities are hinted at by a rich arrangement of electric guitars and low thudding toms, coupled with Hartnett's signature choral vocal layering.

It's another confident piece of songwriting from an artist who seems to have discovered a clarity of who he is artistically, and is backing it up with regular high-calibre releases.

The stage is set for Hartnett's debut EP, due for release in Summer 2022.

"Grand Prix" is written by Pio Hartnett, with additional production from Zak Higgins, as well as mixing and mastering.

Genres: indie-pop, indie-folk, singer-songwriter, electronic pop, alternative, baroque pop, bedroom pop, genre-blending.

Similar artists: Pio Hartnett's songs have had him compared to a variety of artists. These include Gabrielle Aplin, Luz, Bon Iver and Matt Corby. His songwriting is influenced as much by J.R.R. Tolkien and Flannery O'Connor, as it is by Frank Ocean, Holly Humberstone, John Mayer, Radiohead, Taylor Swift, A Tribe Called Quest and Charli XCX.

About Pio Hartnett

Pio Hartnett is an alternative pop & genre-fluid songwriter from Galway, Ireland. After deciding to move to Dublin to pursue music, he recorded the song "Dark Blossom" with his friend Alex Nahayo in the summer of 2018.

It gained over 5,000 streams across platforms, despite no intentional promotion, and was championed on local radio stations from Highland Radio to Liffey Sound 96.4FM.

Hartnett spent the next two years playing open mics around Dublin, and finding his own sound, before deciding to study Commercial Modern Music at BIMM Dublin, from which he graduated in 2020.

Following the release of singles "Dunes" and recently "Roses" in January, he has received support and acclaim from Golden Plec, Chalkpit and Lost in the Manor.

He was recently selected as a featured artist by Guinness Storehouse for their 2021 Winterfest, alongside fellow up and coming Irish artists such as Shiv and Pastiche.

Pio Hartnett recently formed a band with nine members strong, in order to help realise his ambitious vocal arrangements. He is currently putting the finishing touches on a story-driven genre-blending debut EP, for release in Summer 2022.