Hamilton Leithauser – The Loves of Your Life

Leithauser returns to his solo saloon sway on 'The Loves of Your Life'....
Hamilton Leithauser : The Loves of Your Life
7.8 Glassnote
2020 

Hamilton Leithauser : The Loves of Your Life

Once upon a time, Hamilton Leithauser was the frontman for specific era-defining Brooklyn indie-rock outfit The Walkmen, but that was a while ago. The Walkmen grew up, then broke up, with many of its members pursuing solo projects, including Leithauser. However, since 2014’s solo debut Black Hours (QRO review), Hamilton has been spending more time with others, like The Walkmen’s Paul Maroon on the following year’s Dear God, and former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij with 2016’s I Had a Dream That You Were Mine. Now Leithauser returns to his solo saloon sway on The Loves of Your Life.

Life traffics in the old-timey barroom sounds of The Walkmen, but with a relaxed and wiser nature. Instead of anger, there is the tribute to Brooklyn’s “Cross-Sound Ferry (Walk On Ticket)”, and the ‘better luck next year’ “Til Your Ship Comes In”. There are intimate moments, such as on “Here They Come” and closer “The Old King”, but even those eventually give way to saloon sing-alongs.

While still very much in the same vein that Leithauser has been mining for years, and not as pitch-perfect as Black Hours, it’s wonderful to have this voice back.

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