Today I’m so excited to bring everyone an exclusive track by track from Bike Routes, the project from songwriter David Osterhout, that has released his third LP called Prairie today via Blue Grape Music. Speaking about his inspirations, David Osterhout shared, “New Jersey is big for me. As a kid, I listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen in addition to My Chemical Romance. Then, my mom introduced me to ABBA. I’m a huge hip-hop fan, but I love hardcore, grind, and death metal too. My music pulls from all directions. I want my voice and lyrics to fit over anything.” If you’re enjoying the insight on Prairie, please consider ordering the record here.
”Homeward Bound”
I wrote ‘Homeward Bound’ with the understanding that it was going to open the record. I feel like it immediately tackles most of the themes that I wanted to talk about throughout the record and it kind of gives a crash course on everything that Bike Routes is about to first time listeners.
”Shadows”
While some songs take years to write, ‘Shadows’ came together in a matter of minutes and I feel like it helped shape the rest of the album. The theme of running and getting away is very prominent throughout the album and I feel like this song is the pinnacle of that concept. I also feel like there are two distinct narrators on this record and this one comes from the one who’s serious, deadly serious, about getting out.
”Delicate” (Feat. Jake Clemons)
’Delicate’ is the song that I’ve been trying to write since I was 16 years old. It perfectly encapsulates everything that Bike Routes was always supposed to be. I grew up driving around New Jersey with a very Jersey-centric soundtrack blasting through my car speakers and I always wanted to take a stab at creating a soundtrack of my own. And that’s what ‘Delicate’ is.
”Replacements”
This song probably took the longest for me to write and so it definitely holds a special place in my heart. Again, the theme of running is all over this record, but sometimes when we feel like we’re running, we’re really just stuck in place.
”Acceptance In a Fragile Form”
I wrote this song about trying to be something that you’re not, something that you never were and something that you are never going to be. And how you can take these moments in your life and turn them into something more. This album, these songs, these shows: none of it existed 20 years ago. It all kinda just fell out of my head. Just like that, we made something out of nothing.
”Runners”
I think this song is the antithesis of ‘Shadows’. If there’s two narrators on this album, one is ‘Shadows’ and the other is ‘Runners’ and you can kinda piece the rest together from there in terms of who’s talking when. But for all of the aggression and angst that pours out in ‘Shadows’, you get kind of a more passive, goofy, tongue-in-cheek response from ‘Runners’.
”There It Goes”
This might be my personal favorite song on the record. I wrote this on an acoustic guitar the night before I went into the studio to start recording the album. I think this song says a lot of things that I’ve been trying to say for years now. It talks about my mental health and growing up with severe OCD and the loneliness that stems from all of those things. Maybe this is all just some fucked up bloodline or ancestral curse. And maybe everybody else dodged it, so I just got it worse.
”Ripley”
In my opinion, ‘Ripley’ is the highest energy song Bike Routes has to offer. And again it tackles existential dread and space and time and the universe and how it never stops moving. Ripley is the main character in the movie Alien. Trapped on a ship, floating through space, being hunted down by an apex predator. Sometimes that’s what every day life feels like too, ya know.
”Chaos Ball”
Dance. That’s the main objective of ‘Chaos Ball’. I think I just wanted a song sonically that made people want to move. And it certainly is one of the more lighthearted songs on the record. It’s all about showing up for your friends, family, and community when they need you most. When chaos reigns/rains, I’ll be your thunder.
”Out on the Prairie”
‘Out on the Prairie’ is definitely the most experimental Bike Routes song to date. I grew up listening to a lot of noise/grind bands and I always wanted to try to incorporate a sound like that into one of my songs and I feel like this is the outcome of that. And truly, it turned into one of my favorite songs on the record and it allowed me to deliver a much different vocal style on this song compared to the rest of the album.
”The Good Curse”
If ‘Homeward Bound’ was made to be the opener, ‘The Good Curse’ was made to be the closer. These two songs were meant to kind of book-end the album. This song is my love letter to my friends and my family. but more importantly this is my love letter to my community and the people who raised me. It’s about growing up and driving on the same streets that your parents used to drive you around on. But seeing them for yourself for the first time. And seeing the world for the first time. And seeing yourself for the first time.
