The first single from James Durbin’s upcoming album has arrived. “Smackdown” is lead single from his still-untitled third album. The American Idol season 10 rocker told Loudwire where the video debuted. “We recorded ‘Smackdown’ as a band, all live instruments and zero autotune which we highly encourage…‘Smackdown’ is loud, raw and in your face…”
The new music, which James crowdfunded on Pledgemusic, marks a return to the hard rock he performed on Idol and recorded on his 2011 debut Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster for Wind-Up Records. His second album, 2014’s Celebrate, took a dip in the pop-rock pool, but now James is back making the music he loves.
The song can be downloaded now from CDBaby. The accompanying video features his band cut with shots of grappling wrestlers. James is set to return to American Idol for the April 7 series finale, and will be there to perform with a slew of fellow alums like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Kris Allen, Hailey Reinhart, Chris Daughtry and more.
Watch James Durbin’s “Smackdown” Video
