Sunken Man

Sunken Man frontman Michael Rawls grew up between Suffolk and Norfolk, Virginia. Small-town stillness on one side, city noise on the other. Rawls built a full life outside of music: financial advisor, business owner, family... and the songs kept showing up anyway. Then a marriage ended, and in the quiet of a house where a child was sleeping, he started writing in earnest. Songs about heartbreak and rebuilding. About loving someone new while still carrying what came before.

Rawls took the songs to Matthew E. White at Spacebomb Studio in Richmond. White produced the album; Alan Parker, whose credits include Bon Iver, Lucy Dacus, and Dijon, played every instrument himself. The record was mixed by three-time Grammy winner Alex De Jong and mastered by TW Walsh.

The result is nine songs that sit somewhere between Springsteen's emotional directness and Wilco's melodic intelligence. Heartbreak, yes… but also hope. The kind you have to earn.