If Bike Routes’ music has always felt like the soundtrack to a coming-of-age montage, “Shadows” is the scene where the two main characters peel out of town with the windows down and refuse to look back.

The New Jersey-based indie alternative project — the alter ego of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer David Osterhout — has just shared the official video for “Shadows,” the latest single from his forthcoming third album, Prairie, due out June 26 via Blue Grape Music.

Watch the “Shadows” video here: https://youtu.be/uVwqTDhmUmI

“‘Shadows’ is a song about two people just trying to get away from the world and finding humor in it all,” Osterhout explains. “Some people run because they love the wind in their hair; others run because it’s the only way forward.”

That tension — between escape and forward motion — is exactly what makes Bike Routes such a compelling listen. Built on warm synths, sparse guitars, and rich, cinematic beats, “Shadows” stitches together threads of indie, emo, post-punk, and pop into something that feels both nostalgic and brand new. It’s small-town imagery rendered in widescreen.

Prairie marks the next chapter after Bike Routes’ Blue Grape debut, the Rush of Energy EP, which produced the Top 20 Alternative Radio hit “World Apart.” For the new record, Osterhout reunited with longtime collaborator Zach Tuch at his Woodland Hills studio in Los Angeles, leaning into formative inspirations that range from Bruce Springsteen and My Chemical Romance to ABBA, hip-hop, and the literary worlds of Iris Murdoch, Kurt Vonnegut, and Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy.

“For this album, we had two years of careful and precise planning,” Osterhout says. “These 11 songs are the perfect encapsulation of what Bike Routes was meant to be from the beginning. Even back when I was playing coffee shops ten years ago, this record is what I’ve been building towards.”

Prairie Track Listing:
1. Homeward Bound
2. Shadows
3. Delicate (Feat. Jake Clemons)
4. Replacements
5. Acceptance In a Fragile Form
6. Runners
7. There It Goes
8. Ripley
9. Chaos Ball
10. Out on the Prairie
11. The Good Curse

Fresh off a tour with Worry Club and a run of dates with Innerlove, Bike Routes will hit Asbury Park’s Stone Pony for Shadow of the City on May 23, then celebrate Prairie with a four-night record release run up the East Coast.

Bike Routes On Tour:
5/23 — Asbury Park, NJ — Shadow of the City at Stone Pony

Record Release Shows:
6/25 — Richmond, VA — Richmond Music Hall
6/26 — Philadelphia, PA — Philamoca
6/27 — New York, NY — The Woodshop
6/28 — Boston, MA — Warehouse XI

Pre-order Prairie and stream “Shadows” now, then catch Bike Routes on the road this summer. If you’ve ever needed a record that sounds like the open highway, the rearview mirror, and the punchline all at once — this one’s for you.