Sometimes — most times, in fact — you get a decent gap between a concert announcement and the concert itself. Hamilton Leithauser is the kind of musician who does things his own way, however, which was reflected in how he rolled out his touring plans in a social-media post Thursday.
The inimitably voiced frontman of The Walkmen shared that he would be opening for Pulp on a tour that starts next Thursday. Much to our delight, he threw in the added bonus of a headlining show at the Vivarium in Milwaukee on Sept. 19, leaving a little more than three weeks between announcing the show and the show itself.
Honestly, we couldn’t care less about the relatively quick turnaround because Leithauser is an 88Nine favorite, both for his work with The Walkmen and the solo projects he’s been turning out over the past decade. His 2016 album, I Had a Dream That You Were Mine (a collaboration with Rostam Batmanglij), rightfully earned a “Best New Music” designation from Pitchfork, but the quality across all his solo records has been consistently high — right up to this year’s This Side of the Island.
Hearing him go to work in a relatively intimate venue like the Vivarium will be undeniably cool, and the good news about the timing of it all is that we won’t need to wait long to enjoy the show. Tickets are on sale right now online and at the Pabst/Riverside box offices.
Artist bio
Known for his evocative lyricism, quick wit and distinctive voice, Hamilton Leithauser has been a significant presence in rock 'n' roll since the early 2000s NYC scene, transitioning smoothly from his band's successes to a flourishing solo career.
The hard-hitting, Carlyle-crooning frontman of The Walkmen worked the last eight years in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant, writing and recording This Side of the Island, which turns away from the folk-rock vibes of his two previous records in favor of a groovier, bass-heavy, modern sound.
That sonic thumbprint was influenced by several decades of music: Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Talking Heads’ Fear of Music, SZA’s SOS, Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, Randy Newman’s Trouble in Paradise, Prince’s Parade, Panda Bear’s Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper and Neil Young’s On the Beach (to name a few).
Hamilton works on his own schedule at his home studio, The Struggle Hut. But, after eight years of playing myriad instruments, a visit to his old friend Aaron Dessner's upstate Long Pond Studio in the spring of 2024 is what finally brought the album home. The pair originally met when the National opened for the Walkmen in 2001, and Dessner (renowned for his work with The National, Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams) introduced an enormous modern sound.
Leithauser says Dessner, who played a variety of instruments on nearly every track, "raised the ceiling and lowered the floor on the whole thing,” expanding the record's emotional and sonic depth. The collaboration resulted in a record that is both timeless and contemporary, cementing both as versatile and enduring artists in contemporary music.
“It took me eight years to make this, longer than any other record I’ve ever worked on,” Leithauser shared. “Barack Obama was president when I started ‘Fist of Flowers’! So much in my life has changed since I started. My daughters grew, I lost a lot of friends, and I lost my mother … and it seems like the whole world’s been turned upside down. I live a very different life now, but I still truly love writing, recording, and performing music.”
