Come Together

The Voice fan favourites Prinnie Stevens and Mahalia Barnes have teamed up in what most think is an unexpected but natural collaboration, an album of duets, COME TOGETHER which will be released October 5 through Universal Music Australia.

The album features covers of some of Prinnie and Mahalia’s favourite songs, hidden gems from the soul era covering everything from Aretha Franklin to Beyoncé. It also features an original song, ‘The Hard Way’, written by Mahalia and her husband Ben Rodgers and a special guest appearance by Mark Lizotte (Diesel) providing guitar and backing vocals on a cover of his “All Come Together”.

Prinnie and Mahalia have been friends for over 12 years, meeting in their late teens through their love of music, growing up and honing their talent in Sydney’s urban music crowd jamming and performing together, a musical connection that would turn into a lifelong friendship. The Voice pitted the best friends against one another in the battle rounds singing the soul classic ‘Tainted Love’ which became one of the show’s most memorable and celebrated moments, so much so they were invited back to sing together in the finale. While preparing, they came up with a lengthy wish list of songs each wanted to perform, and when the chance to record an album together arose they already had the foundation for their dream collaboration.

Prinnie and Mahalia have both been heavily influenced by soul and R ‘n’ B throughout their careers and name Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway as some of their biggest inspirations. They describe their styles today as very different; a fork in the musical road saw Prinnie more heavily involved in pop and hip-hop, while Mahalia developed her own unique take on the soul genre and they wanted Come Together to reflect and celebrate those differences.

Eric J Dubowsky joined forces with the soul sisters to produce Come Together. Having worked with Eric on The Voice the girls knew he had the right dynamic they were looking for when it came to this unique collaboration. Prinnie and Mahalia recorded 12 songs in five days with a full band which consisted of Mahalia’s touring outfit “The Soul Mates” and included a horn and string section.