As Eureka Springs, Cory Driscoll Expands His Sonic Vision with New Single, “The Mirage”

Eureka Springs have released their second single, a downtempo, jangly meditation called “The Mirage.”

Some housekeeping first: Eureka Springs is the full-band project of Jacksonville singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll, whose 2022 album is also called Eureka Springs. Driscoll also has a song called “Eureka Springs” from the album Eureka Springs which–what with the artist, song and album–approaches The-1975-levels of meta. 

In any event, much like his approach to Eureka Springs (the album), Driscoll’s tact with Eureka Springs (the band) retains a lyrics-forward posture with a covert-yet-meticulous focus on soundscape. And much like “Nothing Quite Like,” the first Eureka Springs (the band) single, “The Mirage” is an expansive and detail-rich canvas, with layered guitars and vocals, strings, filtered effects and chiming plinks and plunks courtesy of the Korg SV2; played by Jake Carlson (who co-wrote the tune), the distinctive-sounding vintage piano has become one of Driscoll’s sonic calling cards, carried across releases from Eureka Springs (the album) to, now, Eureka Springs (the band). 

• Read/Listen to the JME interview with Cory Driscoll about Eureka Springs from 2022

As playful and experimental as it is sonically, “The Mirage” is similarly arch in its lyrical approach, with Driscoll casting metaphors into the sea (“If the sun never rises again”), allowing them to drift aimlessly (“May it rest wherever it sets”), before reeling them back in with intention (“I don’t know you anymore, anyhow”).

“The ambiguity is intentional,” Driscoll said in a press release, which explains that the identity of the song’s narrator is left to the ear of the beholder. “It’s hard not to have a little fun with the words once you get to thinking about all the many things one phrase can mean.”

Even prior to Eureka Springs (the album), Driscoll had built a reputation for a detail-oriented approach to his artistry. Both the 2022 record and the previous long player, 2018’s Tropical Depression, are – front to back – conceptual in nature. And from tapping local artists for the albums’ vinyl-jacket designs to planning high-concept album-release events, Driscoll’s made a habit of diving in head first. With Eureka Springs (the band), he’s found another sea in which to immerse himself, and seems, through the group’s first two singles, to be enjoying all the splashing about. 

• Stream “The Mirage“

Driscoll and co. are continuing to record new music under the Eureka Springs banner with future releases TBD.  

More New Music

You can hear new tracks from Cory Driscoll, and music from local, regional, national and international artists on our music discovery station The Independent 89.9 HD4. And you can follow our Fresh Squeeze playlist on Spotify to stream all the best new music, updated every month.