Shinedown Hoping To Keep Chart Streak Alive With New Single, “Searchlight”

The kings of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart are back with the new single, “Searchlight”.  Their first 33 singles have all charted in the top 5 with 21 #1’s.  No act has ever had such success on the Rock chart, and they look to continue the streak with “Searchlight”.  The new music video is directed by Andrew Donoho and features the band performing the single with no actors or other distractions.

This is Shinedown’s third single of 2025.  “Dance Kid, Dance”/”Three Six Five” hit #1 on the Mainstream chart early in the year followed by another #1, “Killing Fields”. 

“Searchlight” is a pretty, mid-tempo country song with steel guitar, acoustic guitar, and banjo joining the band’s typical instruments.  Brent Smith hopes to carve his own path through life, voice climbing up and down a hilly melody- “I don’t know where I’ll land, but I don’t need your searchlight to see anymore.”  The sound is humble with its banjo plucking, the vocal is confident though restrained, and the composition: probably strong enough from a commercial standpoint to reach the top 5.  I’d bet on it.