Words by: Amanda Marano

Alternative rock band American Authors are treating fans to a remixed version of the record’s title track, “Counting Down [Smallpools Remix]”. Full of sound and combusting with energy, the track tells a tale of late-night romance and nostalgia – singing, “It’s been five long nights not by your side, and I miss your touch / At 4 AM I call your phone and wake you up / To tell you three more days ’til the two of us can finally be one / I’ve been counting down the hours ’til I see you, my love / I’ll say it five more times, no, I won’t lie, I miss you so much / Only four more nights ’til I get home, been long enough / And now there’s three more days ’til the two of us can finally be one / I’ve been counting down the hours ’til I see you, my love.”

“Smallpools have been some of our closest friends for years now,” shares vocalist Zac Barnett. “We couldn’t be more excited for them to put their classic sound on one of our favorite new songs.”

They started working on the EP after releasing third full-length album, Seasons, back in February of 2019. “The title came from a conversation about destroying barriers and borders that divide us,” says Barnett. “It’s important now more than ever not to separate but to come together.” Barnett sees “Counting Down” as opening a new door and leaving the past behind.

“We live in three different places now,” says Barnett, “but we’re such a collaborative band that when we write music we write it all together. With everything going on, we didn’t know when the next time all four of us would be able to fly to a studio space and start cranking out new stuff. But we had these songs we really liked, and it seemed like a good time to do another EP and share these songs with the world – if we can give people a little bit more joy or happiness, a bit more light and hope at the end of this tunnel, why not do that right now?”

“For me, this body of work is going to close a big chapter in American Authors. These songs are helping to move the band to the next step, and move forward into something new, because you always want to be progressing forward. We spent a long time working on our third album and we took it upon ourselves to try something a little different. On a lot of the songs we opened up and we were more vulnerable and we started really just pouring our hearts out into the music – and I learned a lot form that experience. I learned what I loved about that album. But how do you look at all of that, look at what the times are now, and move forward? There’s so much craziness right now – not just with COVID but with fighting for racial justice, especially in this country – that this is the time now where we need to come together and work hard to progress forward. I hope these songs can inspire people to feel a little better and want to work a little harder.”

The four-piece has only soared upwards since the runaway success of 2013 single, “Best Day Of My Life”. Not one to sit still, the band made the most of quarantine – with the whole band, Zac Barnett, James Shelley [guitarist/keyboardist], Dave Rublin [bassist] and Matt Sanchez [drummer] renting out an Airbnb in Nashville for a few days which resulted in “Counting Down”.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER