"Down the Line" follows "Saint Ivy" as yet another promising glimpse of Brooklyn indie lo-fi band Beach Fossils' upcoming album Somersault (out on June 2). The track is accompanied by a grainy music video that sees frontman Dustin Payseur wandering through the more down-to-earth parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, with extended footage of the Williamsburg Bridge and the JMZ subway lines.
Wistful and introspective, the song begins with some subtle political commentary ('I don't want your Wall Street/ Don't got no degree') before diverting into more confessional terrain:
'Written on the concreteA-C-A-BCouldn't really tell youWhat I'm trying to findEveryone's so boringMakes me want to loose my mindSo call me up tonightIf you need somewhere to get out of the lineThese days I feel like I do nothing rightSo come with me and we'll go down the lineI'm thinking of you fondlyWhen I'm on the trainI really hate your poetryYou hate mine the same'
Lyrics: Genius
Payseur's casual, melancholic lyricism and crooning vocals are juxtaposed against a bouncy, expansive bassline and energetic drums, pointing towards a refreshing optimism that lies just around the corner:
"["Down the Line" is] a lot about myself, I guess. It's about me facing depression head on. I was trying to work on music and I was feeling so fucking low. Just like, in the dirt. I couldn't get anything to happen. My creativity was completely zapped. I was kind of breaking down. I hadn't really been sleeping. I started working on this song, and I really liked how it was feeling. I put lyrics down. I did the whole song really fast. It was one of the only songs on the record that I did in one or two sittings. I realized if I just kind of faced how I was feeling, I could use it to my advantage. I could let it out".
-Dustin Payseur, The FADER
