LANCO’s ‘Rival’ Fights for the Underdog With Summer Release

LANCO is back at radio with a brand-new single. After the success of their debut “Greatest Love Story,” followed by their Top 20 “Born to Love You,” the five-man group, led by Brandon Lancaster, just released “Rival,” from their upcoming, still-untitled sophomore album.

“t’s definitely an anthemic song,” Lancaster told PopCulture.com. “We were a little strategic in releasing it for the summer because we’re playing a lot of festivals. It’s a great festival song. But it’s also one of those things where you know it’s this song that’s an anthem of … everyone has times in their life where they feel like maybe everyone’s not rooting for them. We wanted an anthem for those times in life that people can sing along and sing live at a festival.”

The song is the perfect way to introduce their next, still-untitled set of tunes.

“I think a big thing you discover when you’re an artist, especially going onto the second record, is that your life does change,” Lancaster said of the song, which he wrote with fellow bandmate Tripp Howell. “You spend a lot more time on the road, or on a tour bus or backstage, and it’s still finding the things that are going on in your life, that also other people can relate to, no matter what anyone’s going through, or what they do for work.

“We were talking one night about things that we felt we were going through, and that turned into a conversation about things we were going through in our life, and realizing that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you’re doing in life, everyone has a moment where they feel like their back is against the wall and people aren’t rooting for them.”

Lancaster wanted to write “Rival,” not only for themselves but for others who might need to hear the song’s inspiring message.

“[I said], ‘Let’s write this anthem,” Lancaster recounted. “It’s important to tell people that you matter. You’re important. Be proud of who you are and where you came from, and go do what you want in life. If there is anyone who wants to stand in your way, that’s all right. Chalk them up as a rival and use them as motivation.”

“It’s a summer anthem,” he added, “but it’s also a good introduction of what we want to do.”

Download “Rival” on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Allen Berezovsky