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MCA NashvilleThe anticipation's been building for Sam Hunt's sophomore album ever since he released the quintuple-platinum crossover smash "Body Like a Back Road" more than a year ago.  Now that he's back with "Downtown's Dead" -- the song th...

Sam Hunt says more than 50 songs into his next album, only "Downtown’s Dead" has made the cut

MCA NashvilleThe anticipation’s been building for Sam Hunt‘s sophomore album ever since he released the quintuple-platinum crossover smash “Body Like a Back Road” more than a year ago. 

Now that he’s back with “Downtown’s Dead” — the song that’s presumably the second single from his second record — there’s even more excitement about the elusive project. 

Sam estimates he’s written between fifty and sixty songs for the follow-up to 2014’s Montevallo, but so far, only “Body” and “Downtown’s Dead” have made the cut. 

“That song seemed to… [check] all the boxes that I needed to check in a song,” he explains. “And I felt like it was lyrics that I felt comfortable saying. The idea I thought was relatable to people, and it just sounded like a song that people would come out to shows to sing and would inspire people to come out to shows.”

When it comes down to it, Sam says it was simply instinct that made “Downtown’s Dead” his new single.

“It’s hard for me to really say for sure what made that song stand out,” he admits. “I can break it down, I guess theoretically. But I just have those moments where there’s just a gut feeling that says, ‘Okay, this is the song you need to put out. This is how you need to say it. This is what you need to say. This is how it should sound.’”

“And when I get to that point, I put it out,” Sam goes on. “That song was the one that sort of rose up from the batch that I’ve been working over the past year or two.”

The Georgia native will get his first chance to play “Downtown’s Dead” in concert this weekend at the Indianapolis 500. 

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