Plain Drifter Plays Long Way Down Into Perspective

As a music producer, I’ve realised that chasing a dream and finally catching it are two completely different stories. I personally spent years imagining the destination, only to arrive and discover a whole new set of questions waiting there. Sometimes I walk away smiling. Sometimes I simply see things differently. And every now and then life gives me a gentle slap to wake me up and reassess things. Well… sometimes my wife gets there first.

I also like to think those feelings probably reach Australia before the rest of us, simply because the sun gets there first. Whatever the time zone, Plain Drifter captures that moment beautifully in Long Way Down.

When the Climb Finally Ends

Plain Drifter is the recording project of Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Lillicrap, who writes, records and produces amazing content independently from his home studio on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

I loved this song immediately. Many of us recognise the thrill of turning ambition into a story, no matter how hard to tell it is. Sam certainly does in Long Way Down. There’s that goal we finally catch, hoping it will answer every one of our questions. But life… oh dear life. She’s perpetually restless, always finding another reason to keep us going.

The lyrics paint that feeling with simple but powerful images. “You and me we’ve come a long, long way on a ladder that climbed so high,” before delivering the line that I loved so much: “When you’re up on top there’s only one way to go.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there once or twice myself. The older I get, the more that line makes sense. I wish it didn’t.

Then Sam hits us with another question: “Where you gonna go when there’s nowhere left to run?” He never rushes over to answer it either, which I appreciate. And I certainly won’t do it for him, no matter how much I love the song. By the time Long Way Down finishes, everyone listening will probably have reached a different conclusion, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Making Rock With Character

Now let’s see how things started in the studio before reaching our ears: those shiny, driving guitars, Sam’s vocals, warm and real, and then a chorus that had me reaching for the repeat button more than a couple of times. You can hear a little Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty somewhere between the lines. The good news is Sam never tries to sound like any of them. He sounds like himself, and that’s cool.

Long Way Down also introduces Plain Drifter‘s upcoming album, All Roads Lead to This. If Sam thought he could leave me hanging after this one… congratulations. It worked. I’ll be back for more.

Follow Plain Drifter on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. You might end up wanting to stick around and see where Plain Drifter goes next. I know I do.