Downhaul Share New Alt-Country-Meets-Power-Pop Single 'Sinker'

Downhaul, the Richmond, Virginia four-piece, is back with the first new song of 2024 for the band with their new single “Sinker,” out now on Self Aware Records. Since forming in 2016, Downhaul–made up of vocalist/guitarist Gordon Phillips, drummer Andrew Seymour, guitarist Robbie Ludvigsen, and new bassist Chandler Brooks – have been intent on steadily growing their sound.

Like new blooms springing from strong roots, each release has built on the last, taking the band from the scrappy emo of 2019’s Before You Fall Asleep, to the sprawling post-rock of 2021’s PROOF, and then the conceptual alternative of 2023’s Squall. “Sinker” sees the band melding the uptempo exuberance of their early EPs to alt-country-tinged guitar licks and anthemic choruses bolstered by Brooks’ harmonies. Phillips says of his writing proess that he “tried to hold the songs to ‘The Campfire Test,’ which is basically the idea that a song works if it’s good when you play it alone on acoustic guitar, without the rest of the band or anything ornate you might do in the studio.” Pulling from their love of loquacious songwriters like John K. Samson and Blake Schwartzenbach as well as bands like The Wrens or Drive-By Truckers, the new direction for Downhaul feels seamless, with “Sinker” acting as a flawless introduction to the new era.

Speaking to the new single, Phillips writes; “My first (non-ska) band was kind of a suburban high schooler’s take on folk punk and basically all our songs used this same strum pattern/backbeat. I’ve heard it called a “train beat” before and, for some reason, it just seems to lend itself to nice vocal melodies. I love the bounce of Chandler’s bass part through the verses, which adds a cool floating feel to the song’s momentum. The studio version of this song is pretty concise and streamlined, but we stretch it out a bit live and give everybody the chance to play”