Ahead of hitting the road in February, Hamilton Leithauser has announced a new album. The Walkmen frontman will share This Side of the Island on March 7 via Glassnote Records.
The nine-song This Side of the Island is said to find Leithauser sailing away from the folk rock feel of past solo records I Had a Dream That You Were Mine and The Loves of Your Life, charting a course for "a groovier, bass-heavy modern sound."
The effort was co-produced by Leithauser, wife Anna Stumpf and the National's Aaron Dessner, and was recorded at Dessner's Long Pond Studio in upstate New York.
Following the album's title track today is new single "Knockin' Heart," a song featuring a trio of bass guitar tracks that Leithauser said is "sung by an estranged, stoned lover on their way home, who is dying to get a message through to someone who is probably not listening."
As he explained in a release, "I wrote and recorded it one evening and put it away for over a year. I knew I liked it, and I didn't want to mess anything up by trying to perfect it. It was the last song I played for Aaron when we got together, and the first song he helped me work on. I'd say he raised the ceiling and lowered the floor on the entire thing sonically. He actually used a funny bass technique he said he'd used on a Taylor Swift song, which I got a kick out of. I gotta say his bass sounds fantastic. Now there are three basses on it! One of mine and two of his. That is a first for me."
As previously reported, Leithauser will embark on a limited 2025 tour next month, performing intimate shows in Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Chicago.