Heistheartist – The Book of Mary EP

When starting as a neo-soul artist, there are a few career paths presented that you can pursue down the line to continue deepening your talent and reach. For some, they might slide into R&B and focus on strengthening vocal performance above all else. Coming from a soul background, the regimented vocal strength is already there and has been ready to take the stage, lying in wait. For others, a faith-based approach might be more your style — the concept of approaching gospel or Christian rock has less tied to it in core conception than steering straight into a fairly focused genre like R&B, and the lack of constraints might feel most appealing to a budding artist. For one such artist that has since graduated from the secular scene of soul music, it was the latter path chosen: meet Heistheartist.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/signedlovetheartist/?hl=en

Based out of Central Islip, NY, it was only recently that LeeMann Bassey began the arduous trek involved with becoming an established singer focused on spreading the word of Christianity with his art. Assigning himself a new name (pronounced He Is The Artist) to match the new direction, it was only a matter of time before the wells of influence and inspiration came to overflow. Offering a variety of different streams of persuasion from cover songs (“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac) to mash-ups and remixes, there was no end to what Bassey began to become capable of. Reaching a head in the form of his new EP, The Book of Mary, all paths converged and the music began to truly speak for itself.

Harnessing a global reach, Heistheartist saw success across the world when his single “Boom (Remastered)” topped the Christian/Gospel charts in South Africa. Furthermore, “Snake Charmer,” an instrumental track, reached #8 on the UK EDM iTunes chart. The attention was focused on Bassey’s new persona, so it only made sense to seize the day with an EP meant to further lengthen the time HITA could lasso the spotlight. The Book of Mary contains four one-of-a-kind songs all written and performed by Bassey, with two remixes on deck to close the project out. The EP starts with “Virgin,” a funky hip-hop introduction to what one might not expect from non-secular music, and it’s not long before listeners are off to the races with HITA at the wheel. The following tracks deal with a decent amount of heavier subject matter, from a Catholic Nun fighting off temptations to a ballad, of sorts, focused on the concept of overcoming regrets with the help of the Church.

PRE-ORDER: https://ffm.to/thebookofmary

The Book of Mary EP stands as a fantastic beginning chapter in the more-than-likely long-spanning career to come for Heistheartist. If the highs met within only four tracks can become a consistent measurement of HITA’s release quality, there’s no telling where the music and mind of LeeMann Bassey will take audiences. One thing remains certain: Heistheartist will certainly continue to experiment within the framework of Christian music, and we can rest assured that it will never veer towards becoming uninspiring to listen to.

Nicole Killian