Earlier in the year, Richmond band Downhaul released one-off single “The Riverboat,” which they recorded with The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die’s Chris Teti, who also produced 2021’s Proof LP. Today, Downhaul have surprise-released a four-track EP. It’s called Squall.

In an email, the band tell Stereogum how Squall is not quite a rock opera but more like an “indie-rock soap opera.” The four tracks — “I-Fracture,” “II-Sink,” “III-Autumn,” and “IV-Up” — are also all in the key of E Major.

Daunhaul add:

Musically, Squall is a distillation of all the things Downhaul does best. We refined some of the main tenants of 2021’s PROOF – spacious atmosphere, careful transitions between songs, arrangements adorned with synth pads and drum machines – but pushed the outer boundaries of our sound by experimenting with things like bass drops, weird time signatures, field recordings and saturated vocal effects. There are dozens of guitar pedals and at least one BIG guitar solo. Move over, Nels Cline. We even tried a chorus or two this time. But don’t worry, this thing also has our longest verse ever—for the true freaks. Oh, and a LOT of acoustic guitar layers.

Listen to Squall below.