LOOK: Ali Gatie teams up with Alessia Cara for ‘Welcome Back’
Toronto talent Ali Gatie has unveiled the breezy, yet heartfelt “Welcome Back,” his latest song and first-ever collaboration, featuring alt-pop dynamo Alessia Cara. Following up the lovelorn R&B hits “Running on My Mind” and “If I Fall in Love,” this instantly memorable new single proves Ali Gatie is on track for global pop domination.
“Welcome Back” arrives as an optimistic sign of things returning to normalcy as we navigate through a gloal pandemic and highlights one of the singer/songwriter’s most charming qualities: He finds hope even in heartache. “I’ve been keeping doors unlocked just hoping you would walk back in,” he croons over a brightly reverbed guitar. Cara effortlessly slips right in with her soulful voice repeating his words before their vocals melt together: “Feels like you were never gone; I’m glad you’re back / If it doesn’t last, at least we had that time that we had.” Not only is it a song written to a lover, but Ali wrote it as a song to his former self.
The new song also finds Ali Gatie further refining his blend of intimate pop and heart-on-sleeve R&B — a sound his fans, the LISNERS, have championed from the start. Over the last 18 months, the artist has seen his numbers soar. He’s surpassed 3 billion global streams and even with a sold-out world tour and Coachella slot put on hold, he’s continued to grow a huge following online. All thanks to unassuming, but undeniable smashes like “What If I Told You That I Love You,” which has garnered nearly half a billion streams all on its own since January.
“Welcome Back” is a next step that again shows the R&B-pop singer’s strength as a solo star while proving his potential as a collaborator. It’s also a hint of what’s to come as Gatie begins putting the pieces together for his first full-length album.
Random Note about Ali Gatie:
Raised in Mississauga, Canada, just outside of Toronto, and of Iraqi descent, 23-year-old phenom Ali Gatie has quietly ascended as a singular voice in the culture. Within two years since his first independent release, he’s surpassed 3 billion streams with earworms like “What If I Told You That I Love You,” “Say To You,” “It’s You” and “Moonlight.” He’s quickly proving to be one of the year’s most compelling new artists, straddling the line between pop and R&B.
In 2019, he released his debut EP, YOU, achieved RIAA platinum status for his breakout smash “It’s You” (which spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100) and sold out his first six shows in less than 10 minutes. Cultivating a massive international following and global media attention, Gatie has been covered by the likes of Complex, HYPEBEAST, Billboard, Forbes, Genius, NYLON and more. He goes deep on the big subjects that have always consumed great artists: Vulnerability, love, and devotion are concepts that he confronts head-on. The openness in his music is palpable, and his fans, affectionately dubbed the LISNERS, continue to multiply, hanging on to the edge of every one of his words.
