Former frontman for The Walkmen plays to his strengths on highly energetic third solo album.
Almost two years on from the triumphant reunion tour for the legendary indie rock band The Walkmen, lead vocalist Hamilton Leithauser returns with his third solo album to date. Having put the band on hiatus in late 2013, Leithauser commenced his solo career with the album “Black House”, the following year and, after collaborations with firstly Paul Maroon and then Rostam, released his most recent offering, the folk-rock imbued “The Loves Of Your Live”, in 2020. Now, almost five years later, “This Side Of The Island”, delivers nine new songs that find Leithhauser returning to his roots.
Co-produced by Aaton Desnner, Leithhauser, and his wife, Anna Stumpf, the album opens with ‘Fist Of Flowers’, a song that had been gestating for around eight years before the simplicity of the “Doo Doo Doo” in the chorus rendered the song, with its jagged chords, complete. The tempo is maintained through the lovesick ramblings of the following number, ‘Burn The Boats’, the heavy percussive beat softened by the hypnotic female backing vocals. Elsewhere, the chaotic saxophone that imbues the off-centred ballad ‘Ocean Roar’, proves a fitting memorial to Richard Swift, the sonorous punch of Leithauser’s vocal delivering a triumphant farewell to the American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalists, producer and short-film maker.
The pounding rocker ‘Knockin’ Heart‘, is followed by a momentary change of pace that suits the dark narrative of ‘Off The Beach’ though the intensity of Leithauser’s vocal delivery is relentlessly energised and dramatic throughout the album. ‘What Do I Think’ is less successful, with a messy and cluttered arrangement that simply helps to distract and confuse, while the relatively sparser ‘I Was Right’, imposes a slightly arrogant swagger to Leithauser’s animated narrative. The self-destructive character study of ‘Happy Lights’ is one of the album’s numerous highlights, bristling with ragged charisma and some stunning guitar playing, before the title track closes the album with its tale of doomed relationships seen through the rear-view mirror. Here, the track builds gently with some delightful arpeggiated guitar joined by Leithhauser’s reflective vocal delivery before culminating into an infectious kaleidoscope of sound, creating an epic finale that feels like a fitting celebration for the album’s nine vivid vignettes.
If there is any criticism to be levelled at “This Side Of The Island”, then it primarily lies in the production. Having taken several years to record, using various studios and three different producers, it is understandable that the album occasionally feels disjointed, lacking a sense of consistency and balance, as if somewhere within the triumvirate there was a difference of opinion on the musical direction, which along with the rather contrasting political adherence that periodically infiltrates the narrative, temporarily distract from the album’s finer points. However, the intrusion is limited, with all of Leithauser’s disheveled charm let loose here in a way that feels and sounds more akin to that of The Walkmen’s debut album than anything from his previous solo work.
“This Side Of The Island”, finds Leithauser playing to his strengths and coming pretty close to hitting the bullseye.
