Heart of the Med, a new release from local singer-songwriter Dean Muscat, is a song reflecting on Malta and how our island has been changing.

Produced by Jimmy Bartolo of Brikkuni/Ultralow Music fame, all the instruments in the single were performed by him and Muscat, with drums by John J. Bartolo.

“It’s my way of addressing the extreme views we all hear and feel too often, that seem to say either

‘Malta is the best’ or ‘Malta is the absolute worst’, and realising with age – and hopefully a bit more maturity – that, as is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle,” says Muscat.  

The song is now available on all streaming platforms.

Through the song’s lyrics, Muscat says he wanted to explore these conflicting views from the perspective of someone with deep roots in Malta – someone who loves the island’s beauty, idiosyncrasies and relative comforts, but whose own actions (or perhaps inactions) are putting at risk the very things that make this island special in the first place.

The song is now available on all streaming platforms and on Band-camp for anyone who wants to support the release directly.  Together with Bartolo, Muscat is currently putting the final touches to a five-song debut EP, which is set to releasein early 2025, with a few solo acoustic gigs lined up in the lead-up to the release.

Dean Muscat will be performing live at Hole in the Wall, Sliema, on November 21 at 8pm.