Following the release of ‘In The Stream’, which was in the top ten of the AMRAP Metro Chart for three weeks and is on high rotation on ABC Country, Australian Americana songwriter Mitch Dean releases the third single and title-track from Holding Back The Levee.

Featuring guest vocals by Kevin Bennett, from revered Australia country-rock group The Flood, ‘Holding Back The Levee’ is a stellar example of the way in which Dean blends melody and groove. There’s a blues swagger that anchors the song as Sam See adds richly textured organ and Damian Cafarella’s electric guitar cuts an essential lowdown twang and shimmer. It’s the sign of a group of musicians playing right in the pocket and serving the song. Dean sings of “all those doubts and fears building up inside you and trying to find the courage to open up.” Though he didn’t write the song specifically about himself he admits that in hindsight, “maybe it’s related to me actually stepping out and trying to release some music on my own. Maybe that’s what was behind the song.” 

“It’s been fun to watch Mitch’s development from solid band member to the point of creating a solo record that is overflowing with cool songs and sounds…I’m happy to be a small part of it.” Kevin Bennett (The Flood)

Dean has been a longtime fan of Kevin Bennett, having followed him and attended his live shows since around 2006. “Through my interactions with him over the years he always said he’d sing on something should I finally get my album together, so it was pretty awesome for him to take the time to make that all happen for me. When he heard the album he went straight for this tune and called me and said ‘I can hear a great harmony to sing on this one’… it all just fell into place.”

Bennett, a legend of the local country and roots music scene for 25 years, with his band The Flood, was equally full of praise for Mitch and his evolution as an artist. “In this business, success is measured in many ways, but the measure of anyone’s success to me is the fact that they keep producing consistently high quality, undeniably relevant work. So, I was immediately on board when invited to sing on ‘Holding Back The Levee’,” says Bennett.