The debut single by Solace in Fortitude, one of the newest additions to Bahrain’s music scene, pays homage to the strength residents and citizens showed in the face of the Iranian attacks, infusing sounds that became commonplace for the kingdom in the last two months.
Rest in Your Care, set to be released today, April 30, starts off with a raw recording of sirens and rainfall – a soundscape to which Bahrain had become accustomed during the missile strikes and drone attacks that dotted our days and nights, before transitioning into a song about finding comfort not in the absence of struggle, but rather through it.
“Rest in Your Care came from a very real moment where everything around us felt uncertain,” the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist Ahmed Baqeri told GulfWeekly.
“There was fear, there was tension… and at the same time, a deeper question started to surface within us.
“Not just fear of what was happening externally, but a more personal one – the feeling of not being ready to leave this world yet, of not having fulfilled what we feel we’re here to do.
“The song lives in that tension.”
Ahmed, along with bassist Ryan James and drummer Janard Booijse started Solace in Fortitude at the start of 2026.
The
trio already had a riff for their first song, and were busy practicing
and writing... until the first missile struck Bahrain on February 28,
putting everything on pause.
The following two weeks were punctuated
with constant sirens, lack of sleep, being present for family, while
also trying to cope mentally - storms the band knew all of Bahrain was
weathering together.
“When we came back to practice at what we call
‘The Shack’ in Janussan, it was one of the most intense rehearsals we’ve
ever had,” Ahmed added.
“At one point, we were outside, witnessing
missiles in the distance, hearing the sirens, and it had been raining
throughout that week.
“We knew we needed to write something about what was happening.
“I took that as a personal push, and that same night, I took the original riff Ryan played and wrote the full lyrics around it.
“When the song was brought back into rehearsal, everything evolved.
“As a band, the arrangement came together naturally – the dynamics, intensity, and transitions.
“There
was a moment when we finished playing the final version – we all looked
at each other and just knew it was going to be a meaningful song for
us.”
Janard later added the recording of rain and sirens into the
intro – not to focus on the negative, but to transform the sound into
something positive that could be felt through the music.
At its core,
the song is about surrendering to a higher power in the face of events
beyond control, echoed through the chorus – ‘as the rockets fall and
the rain covers’.
Although their first single was shaped by happenings around them, the band name Solace in Fortitude was pure coincidence.
“The
idea behind the name is simple at its core – finding comfort not in the
absence of struggle, but in the strength to endure it,” Ahmed
explained
“Fortitude is the courage to sit with the difficult, move
through it, and not run from it. And solace is what is discovered within
that process.”
The band is already working on its next songs, and hopes to release their first full-length 10-track album later this year.
Rest in Your Care will be available today, April 30, onwards on all major streaming platforms.
For more details, follow @solaceinfortitude on Instagram.
