The Lemonheads
After nearly two decades of silence on the original songwriting front, The Lemonheads return in full force with Love Chant, a raw, melodic, and emotionally unguarded new album set for release on October 24 via Fire Records. With the new single “In The Margin” dropping today and a North American tour kicking off in November, it’s clear: Evan Dando is ready to be heard again.
Recorded in São Paulo with Brazilian producer Apollo Nove, Love Chant is a fever dream of jangling guitars, alt-folk melancholy, and scrappy punk undercurrents—the kind of warm, ragged beauty that made The Lemonheads alt-rock royalty in the ’90s. But this isn’t just a nostalgic rehash. It’s a reinvigoration, and a reminder of Dando’s still-potent voice as a songwriter.
“I wanted to have a riffy song, so I wrote riffs all over it,” Dando says of lead single “In The Margin,” a simmering revenge fantasy co-written with Marciana Jones. “It’s like a full-on 8th-grade girl revenge song,” he adds, equal parts bemused and proud. The track arrives today with a lyric video that captures the off-kilter emotional dissonance that’s always made Dando’s songwriting feel both personal and universal.
The album brims with collaborations that are as meaningful as they are musically rich. J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) lends his unmistakable guitar snarl to “Deep End,” while Juliana Hatfield, a longtime friend and musical foil, adds harmonies that cut right to the bone. There’s input from John Felice of The Real Kids, Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond, and John Strohm, Dando’s former Blake Babies bandmate. Even Adam Green (The Moldy Peaches) shows up, co-writing the dusty Americana-tinged “Wild Thing.”
Love Chant also reunites Dando with Tom Morgan, his trusted songwriting partner on some of the band’s most beloved tracks. The duo co-penned “Deep End,” a riff-driven standout whose video—shot in Brazil by Carlão Busato and Luigi Parisi—is already drawing international attention.
This record doesn’t just mark a return to songwriting for Dando—it coincides with the publication of his memoir, Rumors of My Demise, set for release October 7 via Gallery Books. If Love Chant is the soundtrack, Rumors is the long-awaited liner notes to a life spent drifting between cult heroism and self-exile.
The Lemonheads will hit the road in support of Love Chant, starting with European dates and kicking off a North American leg on November 11 in Birmingham, Alabama. The tour wraps December 20 at Nashville’s Basement East, with stops along the way that are likely to attract longtime fans and a new generation of listeners introduced to Dando through recent covers by MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, and Courtney Barnett.
The Lemonheads aren’t chasing trends. They’re not playing catch-up. With Love Chant, they’re reminding us what timeless songwriting looks like—unpolished, emotionally exposed, and as affecting as ever.
Tour Dates, Tickets & Info: thelemonheads.net
Pre-Order Love Chant Now
Evan Dando’s Memoir Rumors of My Demise out October 7.
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