New Music: Shinedown, “Three Six Five” Reimagined

Shinedown

Reflecting back on a year filled with loss and longing, Shinedown’s “Three Six Five” is a wistful track that traces the end of a treasured relationship. Every single day for the past year, the narrator constantly runs circles in his mind, wavering in the gap between mournful nostalgia and the unstated hope of eventually moving on. It’s in this juncture that the heart constricts, wondering what to do; sonically, both versions of “Three Six Five” have an emotional grasp that will arrest you in your tracks. The first, with its soaring chorus, lends itself a bit more to that theory of hope. But the new, stripped-down take reimagines the song as an echoic, slower-moving hymn, centering Brent Smith’s vocals against the plaintive keys, imbuing it with new life. It’s a song that won’t let go of you.

The song has made four different radio formats and has earned them immense praise:

• #5 at Alternative

• #13 on Hot AC

• Top 30 at Active Rock

• Top 30 at Mainstream

And this is all prior to Top 40 Radio, which it should be reaching ASAP.

The first version is below; the second one is the piano version. Contrast and compare, see what you feel: