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Maddox Batson has teased a brand new track, ‘Southbound’, with fans already taking to the comments to call for the up-and-comer to drop the unreleased song as soon as possible.
Introducing the heartfelt offering, the Tennessee singer-songwriter explained, “Who here has ever been through a break-up? Your boy has, and sometimes when you love someone, you gotta let them go. So this one's about my ex-girlfriend - let's go!”
Thematically, ’Southbound’ follows more closely to Maddox Batson's heartbroken debut single, ‘Tears in the River’, rather than his rose-tinted, lovestruck latest release, ‘X's’.
‘Southbound’ finds Batson exploring a more brooding, stormier feel, with the ‘I Wanna Know’ crooner rattling through a flurry of internal rhymes as he laments how the relationship ended.
Across an atmospheric, beat-driven instrumental, Maddox Batson reflects on who's to blame for the break-up, “Maybe I was dumb, yeah, maybe I was numb ‘cause I knew it was comin’ / Yeah, but you had me runnin’ / Girl, we're headin’ southbound”.
Maddox Batson inventively uses a journey South as a forlorn metaphor for how the relationship is on an unstoppable downward trajectory. ‘Southbound’ has seemingly been penned about the precise moment the narrator realises there's no future for the relationship. He faces the bittersweet, reluctant realisation that the best thing he can do is end it with his partner, and hit the 165 Highway to Southern California.
The fast-emerging artist continues to consolidate himself as one of the next-big-things in country music, with ‘Tears in the River’ landing on Spotify's Viral USA chart and amassing over seven and a half million streams since its release in March.
Batson has drawn comparisons with other modern country hitmakers, such as Bailey Zimmerman, and with this sleek new teaser, the 14-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.
For more on Maddox Batson, see below:
