With Bliss N Eso having just chalked up their third ARIA #1 album in a row last month with Off The Grid, it might seem at a glance that they’ve had a blessed run. But, as fans will know, they’ve had their fair share of difficulties in recent times, from Eso’s own personal battles, to the untimely death of their stuntman during the filming of a video clip for the new record.

On this, the album’s title track, there’s the sense here that the trio are looking at this release – and whatever comes next for them – as a defiant step forward. ‘Off The Grid’ sees the pair count their blessings over a dark, tense instrumental, thanking their fans for sticking with them through recent hard times, and giving props to their own hardass grandmas in the same breath.

“Oh Lord, I’mma show you what I’m rapping for,” snarls MC Bliss, “and prove when life’s tryna hurt y’all, you can hit home runs offa curve balls,” a clear statement of intent from a group left world-weary, but more driven than ever. With a 27-date national tour looming, there’s no sign that life’s hurdles have slowed them down in the slightest.

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