The Walkmen vocalist’s new ep finally sees the light of day
By Jeff McCord
In the indie rock world, you’d be hard pressed to name a more distinctive vocalist than Hamilton Leithauser. Through his years with the Walkmen and his idiosyncratic solo career, Hamilton has circumnavigated all manner of volumes and styles. Most times, he seems to be straining the upper limits of his register, yet his voice slices through the music like it was butter. It’s a remarkable instrument.
If you’re thinking this has some link to Hamilton being a vocal prodigy, you’d be mistaken. He became the vocalist in his first band only by default. No one else wanted the job.
“I started my first band with my friends, Hamilton explains, “when we were 15. They’re like, well, I’m not gonna sing, okay, I guess I’ll sing. But that was just screaming. We played “No Fun” and stuff like that. When I got to college, I remember writing a song and thinking I should actually try and sing this. I remember playing it for my mom. She was like, oh my God, you can actually… And that was the moment.”
When the Walkmen rose from the ashes of the influential New York band Jonathan*Fireater, Hamilton, brought on as their new vocalist, remembered his mom’s positive feedback.
Jonathan*Fireater fell apart when they didn’t achieve their lofty expectations. Their vocalist was Stewart Lupton (who passed away in 2018). Lupton’s voice was in the more traditional indie rock mold.
“So I thought, I’ll just come in and be really singerly and strong and it’ll separate us from their music. And it did.”
For seven albums from 2000-2013, The Walkmen were a model of uncompromising success. And judging by the response to their year-long 2023 reunion tour, they may not be done. Almost everyone expected a new Walkmen album to follow. Everyone, that is, except Hamilton.
The Walkmen aren’t the reason Hamilton returned to Austin at the end of last year. He had another album to finish. One that started a while ago.
“The opening track, ‘Fist of Flowers’,” Hamilton recalls, laughing, “I recorded in my old apartment when Barack Obama was president of the United States.”
Hamilton has trouble articulating what made the particular songs of his upcoming ep, This Side of the Island, so difficult to finish. After all, in the same eight years, he released four solo albums, started a residency at New York’s Carlyle Cafe, and took a year to tour with the Walkmen.
But there are clues. Island’s songs veer further away from the folkish quality of his other solo releases. The production is denser, the mood darker, the disillusioned lyrics probing deeper into the zeitgeist. And in the case of the album’s centerpiece, “What Do I Think?”, they’re emotionally adrift.
Tellingly, Hamilton calls his home studio “The Struggle Hut”. Did the million decisions made in solitude begin to overwhelm his focus? I ask if he misses the more collaborative days of the Walkmen.
“Yeah, definitely you do. The grass is always greener. But, you know, having both is the best. There was no reason [the Walkmen] ever wanted it to end. I just wanted to do a solo record. I was talking to Paul Banks from Interpol, and he’s like, I have four bands. Britt Daniel, he’s got all these projects that he’s working on. It’s just a healthy thing to do.”
Yet after all this time, these songs sat unfinished. Or so it seemed. When Hamilton took them to his friend Aaron Dessner (of the National), Dessner’s reply was “You’re done, you don’t need me. But I’ve got some great tricks that I can try.”
“We only worked for two days together,” Hamilton recalls. “But everything that he did sounded so good. He made it sound so much more modern. He really helped me bring it into this sonic place. He pulled me out of a hole. He said, ‘You just needed a little push, that’s all.’”
So last December, Hamilton returned to Austin to replicate his small Carlyle showcases. Fitting to Island’s closely-held material, the tour is going to be a slow-roll and an intimate affair. At least at first.
“It’s a different format. I talk a lot more. I tell a lot of jokes. The people are right in front of you. We’re actually starting at places that my agent has found, one in London that’s the same idea. Then Chicago and Toronto. It’s more fun to play for 100 people. It’s always nice to be able to sell more tickets. I could play bigger venues, but I can talk about the songs and stuff and the people really want to be there. Everything is so much more present, I think.”
And he’s thrilled, after all this time, to be performing these songs for the very first time. The release of This Side of the Island is iminent, with singles rolling out over the next few weeks. The full ep will be released in March. It’s been a long journey.
“I don’t know why I could finish [other songs], but I couldn’t finish these. Honestly, they didn’t sound right until I knew that I liked them.”
Set List:
“This Side of the Island”
“In A Black Out” (from 2016’s I Had A Dream That You Were Mine)
“Knockin’ Heart”
Musicians:
Hamilton Leithauser – vocals; Matt Oliver – guitar; Greg Roberts – bass; Stephen Patterson – drums; Anna Stumph – piano
Credits:
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Post Mix: Jake Perlman; Video Edit: Renee Dominguez; Audio Engineers: Jake Perlman, Rene Chavez; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Renee Dominguez, Patricia Lim; Session Host: Ryan Wen
