The Company Car Wants You to Know U-turns Are Okay in New Single “Sideways”
Nashville-based alternative rock band The Company Car is revving onto the scene with their new single “Sideways” from their debut EP of the same name dropping April 17th.
The road to The Company Car’s creation began with Beau Williams writing “Sideways,” a track that would become the axle of the project. When Williams bonded with fellow songwriter Andrew Stevenson through a Twitter friendship, a move to Tennessee, and their shared love of The Beatles, James Goodwin joined the band as drummer, Grant Alan as bassist, and Lexi Jackson on horns. Inspired by the Bluth family stair car from the show Arrested Development, they named the band The Company Car. A month later, an actual company car crashed into the house Beau Williams was renting five feet from where he was standing.
Photo courtesy of The Company Car
Coincidence, fate, or the magnetism of The Company Car’s sound? Smooth and acutely nostalgic, the jazzy soft rock “Sideways” feels like falling asleep in a sun-drenched car while someone is flicking through radio stations. Saxophone adds its distinctive warmth to the melody while cymbal-forward rhythms and traipsing keys capture a sense of optimism. Described by songwriter Beau Willims as a “hopeful breakup song,” the track speaks to the moment of recalibration after life takes an unexpected turn (like, you know, a car crashing into your house) and reassures the listener with the refrain “You’re not always sideways.” Basically, this song is the emotional equivalent of touching grass, the dizzy moment of rest after rolling down a hill or doing a cartwheel. “Sideways” has all the characteristics of a classic comfort song you’ll turn to again and again when you’re turned around.
The Company Car’s alternative rock stylings are as varied and versatile as the American landscape and experience they capture in their songwriting. Their sound is a conglomerate of Americana, yacht rock, and psychedelic folk. Their previous single “Rosie Tyler” has country twang layered once again with mellow saxophone to make the case that no matter the genre, The Company Car is here to groove.
If you’re in Nashville, The Company Car is performing on March 21 at Brooklyn Bowl in a line up with The Hard Quarter and Sharp Pins. On April 17, catch the Sideways EP release show at Eastside Bowl’s 58 Stage, where The Company Car will be joined by Frown Town and Salt Water Baby. For fans who aren’t Nashvillian villains, listen to The Company Car below until you get a chance to see them live.
