Hamilton Leithauser is releasing his new album This Side Of The Island in a month and has this week shared the single from it, “Burn The Boats”. He says:
โI finished this song in the spring of 2024, and then in the summer my friend sent me a link to a Joe Rogan event called โBurn the Boatsโ. At first I thought, โOh fuck. Aw shit. Oh fuck this shit!โ, but then I listened to Joe Roganโs podcast for the first time, and I learned that he has absolutely no idea what he is talking about and I donโt care about his nonsense.
“My song is about being at a party, falling in love with someone, and deciding you want nothing more than to go home with them. At the same time, the partyโs now kinda boring, and youโd really like to speed up the process. โI wanna go home!โ Who canโt relate to that? I wrote a backup line for my friend Lachrisha, which was definitely inspired by Funkadelic, and the guitar playing was definitely inspired by David Bowieโs โLowโ.โ
“Burn The Boats” possesses a psychedelc swagger that we don’t often hear from The Walkmen vocalist – the influences mentioned above (Funkadelic, Bowie) can certainly be heard – as well as the lush instrumental choices of co-producer Aaron Dessner. The song is all Leithauser though, with the characteristic vocalist describing the boring party scene with his acerbic style, before turning his pen on himself and admitting his own impatience and over-confidence. It all makes for a charming package – accentuated by the “doo doo doo” backign vocals – that it’d be hard for anyone to resist.
Listen to “Burn The Boats” below or find it on your preferred streamer.
Hamilton Leithauser’s new album This Side Of The Island arrives on 7 March through Glassnote (pre-order/save). You can find him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook.
Live dates:
FEBRUARY
10th – Los Angeles, CA, Largo at The Coronet
11th – Los Angeles, CA, Largo at The Coronet (SOLD OUT)
12th –ย Los Angeles, CA, Largo at The Coronetย (SOLD OUT)
17th – London, EartH
25th – Toronto, ON, The Drake Hotelย (SOLD OUT)
26th – Toronto, ON, The Drake Hotelย (SOLD OUT)
28th – Chicago, IL, Old Town School of Folk Musicย (SOLD OUT)
MARCH
1st –ย Chicago, IL, Old Town School of Folk Musicย (SOLD OUT)
6th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
7th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
8th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
12th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
13th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
14th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
15th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
19th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
20th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
21st – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
22nd – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
26th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
27th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
28th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
29th – New York, NY, Cafรฉ Carlyle
JULY
18th – St. Paul, MN, Minnesota Yacht Club Festival
