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Aug 05, 2025 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Candace Bagley

The life of a touring musician can be tragically Sisyphean. All too often, it requires years spent constantly on the road, playing the same cities while sinking every possible cent into chasing a dream, only for the boulder to roll back down the hill. Singer/songwriter Justin Dustin Griffin is well acquainted with the highs of life on the road, but his songwriting is equally steeped in the lows, finding hope and urgent meaning in his own long climb up the hill.

Later this year, he’s set to share his sophomore album, The Perseverance of Sisyphus, out on September 26th. The record follows his debut, Battle Cry Mercy, and a prolific string of new singles in the years since, including his latest tracks, “I am the Calvary” and “Howl at the Moon.” Today, he’s sharing an early listen to his latest track, “Bags of Bones,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Bags of Bones” plays out like a weathered folk eulogy, capturing the weary moments after life has relentlessly beaten you down. Strings and keys cloud the track with mournful countermelodies, while Heather Little’s vocal harmonies offer a crystalline contrast to the rough sandpaper grit of Griffin’s vocals. Griffin hits the same coarse stylistic notes as artists like Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, and like those inspirations, his gravelly tone only lends his lyrics more emotive weight.

His reflections are downcast, but they also offer a strange comfort. He settles into the aching pain of chasing after a dream, doggedly continuing until long after you’ve given your all. Yet, he also sings the song as if to a partner, offering a hint of warmth and companionship to blunt the sting of exhaustion: “So pull the rope when you cry dear / All our hope will not hide these bags of bones / You said we’re born just to die here / So the little I do / The little I don’t / It won’t mind us.”

Griffin says of the track, “Writing ‘Bags of Bones’ felt like slipping into a dream—surreal, urgent, and raw. It’s a portrait of relentless drive, of bones rattling in pursuit of perfection, and the cost of giving everything to the muse.”

Check out the song below. The Perseverance of Sisyphus is out everywhere on September 26th via First City Artists.