A day before a booked recording session up the hill from a converted chapel, and his soon-to-be new home in Cornwall, England, a new song came to Daniel Schamroth “out of nowhere.” Initially, he had recorded the bones of the track on his phone “ages ago,” and barely remembered until it resurfaced.
Sitting inside the main chapel space, Schamroth finished his latest single “Searchlight” in what seemed like a flash. “The melody came back to me for some reason in that moment, and suddenly the song just came to life and I sat and wrote it in one sitting,” he says.
“It all happened very quickly and naturally with this one, which for me is generally a good sign—no second-guessing, just letting it all flow,” adds Schamroth. “I really enjoy having that pressure of knowing I’m going into the studio, as it often sparks a new song or two.”
Recorded at Patchwork Studio in Cornwall with producer Will Rogers, along with Schamroth’s previous single “Best Years of Your Life“—a follow up from Schamroth’s 2024 EP, Major Companion, produced by Guy Massey (The Beatles/Oasis/Ed Sheeran)—“Searchlight,” is an introspective dispatch on the highs and lows of life, and everything in between.
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I was talking but I wasn’t listening/ I was being by myself / I was shaking my foundation / I was drinking to my health, sings Schamroth on the acoustic ballad.
Schamroth reveals that “Searchlight,” like “Beast Years of Your Life,” is more autobiographical. “It wasn’t a conscious thing, but I’m probably getting to that age now where there’s a bit more life experience behind the words, a few more ups and downs where life has thrown you around a few times and taught you a thing or two,” shares Schamroth. “As you get a bit older, you tend to wear the scars in the songs, or maybe that’s just me. In both songs, there’s a lot of looking back at where I’ve got to in life so far, kind of assessing things up until this point, and taking a step back from it all.”
He continues, “It’s definitely an ever-evolving process with writing, when you’re in your 20s, you can just let loose and you’re saying it all for the first time, but as you get a bit older, there’s a sea change in perspective, well for me anyhow. The whole process of songwriting is as precious and sacred as it’s ever been, as you don’t have quite as much time to write, so when the songs do come, it’s a magical thing.”
Both singles also received similar visual treatments, with live music videos filmed inside the chapel by production company, Radiator Baby. Shot by Elffin Elleschild and Ethan Griffin McCleary, who also directed both videos, and mixed by Annabel Rose, the cavernous acoustics expose the heartbeat of each song.
Chapels have been a “ thing” for Schamroth and his wife, who have already started working on converting their third, including the one in Millbrook, Cornwall, where the videos were shot.
“The acoustics in that place are just amazing,” says Schamroth. “It’s just such an awe-inspiring building, perfect for sitting and waiting for inspiration to come. In fact, that whole area of Cornwall is magical. The Rame Peninsula attracts a lot of artists and creatives, and there’s a great arts scene there.”
A decade after forming his band The Loft Club, which supported Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and the Charlatans, and collaborated with Lisa Loeb on the band’s 2020 single “Flicker,” Schamroth has already laid a firm enough ground and built a prolific songbook as a solo artist since releasing his 2022 debut Friends & Brothers.
“Searchlight” and “Best Years of Your Life” mark a new point for Schamroth.
With songwriting, there’s always a “shift in gears” between the band and solo material. Some of the earlier songs were built more around arrangements and hyper-focused on layering instrumentation and vocals, but with new singles, Schamroth has managed to penetrate something more soulful.
“Back then, I was layering up the parts in my head for a full band sound, whereas now I’m just keeping them as naked and raw as they want to be,” Schamroth says. “It takes guts to keep a song in its natural form. … Where I am at right now with my own journey is trying to be brave in a gentle way. Can the song just be stripped right back to the bare bones and still touch the soul?”
Schamroth jokes, “Maybe next week I’ll start a thrash metal band, but for now I’m happy to keep doing what I do.”
Photos: Alice Deuchar Photography
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