James Downham Shares New Single, “Unwind,” Along With Music Video
Stratford, ON-based country artist James Downham has unveiled his latest single, “Unwind,” from his album, The Long Way Home.
Everyone can likely relate to the song, set in the context of the daily work-focussed
rat-race: get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, lather, rinse, repeat. The song
expresses the universal desire to relax at the end of a long week, put your feet up in
front of the fire with a glass of wine, with your arm around your loved one, and just
unwind.
Downham released his debut, full-length (14-track) album in April 2023.The recording
features an all-star cast of musicians, including 2023 CCMA Drummer of the Year Rich
DaSilva, and 2023 CCMA Nominees Mark Rynkun (Bass Player of the Year) and Matt
Koebel (Keyboard Player of the Year), and CCMA Wall of Famer, Mitch Jay on pedal
steel
Earlier radio singles from the album include “Wine & Whiskey” which has notched over
130k streams on Spotify, as well as “Full Speed Ahead,” “One Mile at a Time,” “Raised
On,” as well as critically acclaimed 2021 single, “We’re Okay“, a powerful duet with
country newcomer, Amanda Kind.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
For sure! I’m a recording artist out of Stratford, Ontario. This past year I released my first full-length album, with 14 tracks. It was a monumental task, but so worth all of the blood, sweat, and tears!
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
“Unwind” is the latest single from my record, The Long Way Home. I wrote the song with fellow Canadian country recording artists, Jessica Sole and Matt Teed. The song is a commentary on our work-focussed culture. Work-life balance is something that is talked about a lot, and yet is very hard to achieve. Too many of us get caught up in the cycle of getting up early, working long days, getting home late, and repeating that day-in, and day-out. As a result, we’re always looking ahead to when we can finally put our feet up and relax with our loved ones.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
I was privileged to work with 15 different co-writers on the album. Each of our writing sessions brings something different. I find the creative process fascinating – particularly how different each session can be, and how each writer brings something different to the table. For this particular song, Jessica had the title and the general idea for the song. A common approach when writing with a group is to throw out a bunch of ideas – titles or hooks, and see which one resonates with the group. In this case, we liked this idea right away, and ran with it. I think it’s pretty much universally relatable, which is important for a song, I think. We each worked to shape the song over a few hours, massaging the lyrics and melody, until we landed on something we were all happy with. I knew right away this was a good song, and it was immediately a candidate for the record, but it wasn’t until producer Matt Koebel recorded a demo of the song before going into the studio that I knew this would be a radio single. He gave this song an incredible vibe – right from the first note, that I think gets people’s attention right away. It’s got a familiar sound, with a bit of a throw-back feel to it, with that echoey percussion. I love the sound of it right away!
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
The music video is out now on YouTube – please check it out! I worked, once again, with the talented folks from Roadhouse Productions (they also filmed my video for Wine & Whiskey which was released last April). They used an interesting technique where we filmed everything at double speed (can you say, Chipmunks?!). It was a little stressful trying to sing the song super fast as we were recording – I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up! Anyone watching would have wondered what the heck we were doing! Once the recording is finished, it’s slowed down to regular speed, and the result is super cool. It appears that you’re singing the song normally, but all the background activity and camera movements appear to be in slow-motion.
This summer, I’ll be booking a series of shows with Amanda Kind. Amanda and I have collaborated on a couple of projects in the past, including our 2021 duet, “We’re Okay” and our holiday song “In The Mood For Christmas.” We’ve got some more cool stuff in the works! I also did some additional recording recently on a couple of acoustic video performances – I’m hoping they turn out well!
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
The highlight is definitely releasing the album. It was a lot of work and I’m extremely proud of the accomplishment. As for a turning point? I’d have to say working with Matt Koebel and Amanda Kind on “We’re Okay” back in 2021. That set up a whole chain of events that led to the release of the album, and it also opened the door to working with some exceptionally talented writers and musicians. That has elevated my career significantly and in such a short amount of time. I never thought I’d be working with a whole team of CCMA award-winning/nominated individuals.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
Well, I’ve mentioned Amanda Kind a couple of times here, so I’d urge you to check her out. She’s an incredibly talented vocalist and an exceptional songwriter. Her new song, The Good Fight, is out right now, and it’s absolutely incredible. You NEED to hear this artist!