“’Echo the Halls’ (Rise Records) is a simple love story of two unhinged souls searching for a light at the end of a tunnel,” explains celebrated folk troubadour Chuck Ragan about his new single Widely anticipated, it’s Ragan’s first new music since 2016’s soundtrack to the videogame The Flame in the Flood.

Brimming with trademark Chuck-isms, “Echo the Halls” keeps one foot firmly planted in the punk tradition that carried him through the majority of his musical career as co-frontman of Florida’s Hot Water Music and the other in the rootsy Americana of his solo career. With his distinctly rugged and warm vocals soaring anthemically above a propulsive rhythm section that complements his heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics, Chuck displays his music’s innate immediacy, making him a beloved songwriter and a press darling.

“Many of the songs that I discover and gravitate to stem from love and reflection,” he says.  “That said, love and reflection isn’t always pleasant and often at times painful. Songwriting to me has always been about looking deeper into myself to overcome my faults and dark sides.  Whether I find them myself or learn of them from loved ones.”