Their new sound going into 2020 remarkably mixes harmony-driven melodies, R&B rhythms and pop production. Throw those elements all together in the recording studio, and a song like "Won't Ever Say Goodbye" comes out, which is premiering exclusively on Billboard today (Jan. 22).
"We wrote this song three years ago. It lived in our heads and in our DropBox for a long time, but we kept coming back to it. The task of finally going into the studio to record it felt pretty daunting. Demo-itis is a real thing. But what we came out with really felt more honest and more uniquely 'us,'" The Shadowboxers tells Billboard. "From a production standpoint, this song is really hard to classify. It somehow feels fast and slow at the same time. It exists in this sort of slinky in-between space which helps you feel the dichotomy of the intense resolve of the song combined with a kind of subconscious melancholy."
The track features a groovy guitar cutting into razor-sharp pop vocals, as the group sings about not letting go of a significant other, divine echoing harmonies cooing in the background. It's a coincidental feeling for the group to be singing about, considering they're letting go of their sonic past to create this new chapter for themselves where they exhibit more creative control.
That's partly thanks to Level, a new music distribution platform in partnership with Warner Music Group specifically for independent artists. "Won't Every Say Goodbye" is their inaugural release with Level, and it's the first blended taste of their debut, self-produced album that they're currently gearing up for.
"In thinking about who we are, what we do best and where we fit in today's musical landscape, we realized our goal was to create three-part-harmony driven pop music that's both sophisticated and digestible to the public," The Shadowboxers said in the release. "This new chapter really speaks to our versatility as a group, as well as the timelessness and undeniable appeal of genre-spanning music."
Listen to "Won't Ever Say Goodbye" below.
