Haunted Continents

Haunted Continents is the solo project of Bronx based singer-songwriter James A.M. Downes. James has been around since 2002, knee deep in the basements of the American north east indie/hardcore scene. You’ll still catch an earful of crassly eloquent lyrics, but all these years later James finds himself trading the fuzzed out decibels for something a bit more alluring and subversive.


Starting September of 2018, Haunted Continents will release a single a month for an entire year. The songs (all to be released on Downes’ own Forest Park Recordings) reverberate with lush guitar beds over new-retro progressions creating a sound that fans of The Shins or Death Cab for Cutie would find shelter in. These new songs gives breath to narratives that teem with dark humor and humility, taking the listener from debaucherous parties in the underworld all the way to the ghostly desolate bedrooms of former lovers, long since vanished.


While features of James' previous EP (Prison Font) in Relix Magazine and a feature/nomination for Deli Magazine NYC’s “Favorite Emerging Artist” help circulate the recorded music, James continues to bring the live show all around the east cost. Whether performing as a yearning cello/guitar duet or leading a bruising and beautiful full band, most concert goers would agree with The Deli’s Henry Solotaroff-Webber in saying that “James boldly [displays] his talent as a songwriter, and [solidifies] himself as someone to watch.”