No one can accuse Hamilton Leithauser of rushing the creative process. The lead vocalist and founding member of New York City indie rockers The Walkmen spent the past eight years working on his newly released album, This Side of the Island, a project he began when former President Barack Obama was wrapping up his second term.
The creative struggle to complete the new project lasted long enough for Leithauser to not only see The Walkmen come off a hiatus for a 2023 reunion tour, but also to release a pair of solo records in 2020, The Loves of Your Life and Live! At Café Carlyle. Working out of his appropriately named home studio called The Struggle Hut, which is located in the heart of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the former philosophy major is equal parts relieved and rueful that it took so long to complete This Side of the Island.
“A lot of those songs I wanted to try to finish for that record, The Loves of Your Life, but I just couldn’t complete them,” he admitted. “I finished another batch of songs I thought was a record, but these songs wouldn’t die. I couldn’t let it go. I just love making music and trying to find new ways to put stuff together. Having my own studio now, I really got into mixing and things I couldn’t do when I was younger while recording things in ways I think sound cool. I have zero interest in ever recording anything that’s super hi-fi anymore, although I think, in the end, my records wind up sounding super hi-fi. I prefer to do it myself. It’s just the desire to create something and the only thing I can do is music. I tried to do other stuff, but I couldn’t.”
While grappling with how to get his latest album across the finish line, Leithauser reconnected with Aaron Dessner, an old friend who has become a renowned producer. The duo’s relationship dates back to when the Dessner’s band, The National, opened for The Walkmen in the early 2000s. For the 46-year-old indie rock singer-songwriter, reconnecting with Dessner couldn’t have come at a better time.
“You can definitely drive yourself into a spot where you don’t know which end is up and you don’t have a helping hand to tell you it’s time to stop,” Leithauser said of the album-making process. “I ran into Aaron somewhere at a music festival and was at the point where I didn’t know what I had. I was just telling him that and he invited me up to his studio to see if I wanted to come and listen, get his thoughts or whatever. I went up there and we listened through to everything and the first thing he said to me was that I was done and didn’t need him. He said he loved what I presented and thought it was completely done.”
Leithauser added, “I’d been stuck with this thing for years, but it was fresh for him. I think I was almost at the end and didn’t even realize it. Aaron is good at making things sound modern and he added this modern-sounding element to it that I just didn’t have. It changed my whole perspective on the entire thing and immediately when I left, I thought that people have got to hear this, which is always a good sign. It was a push over the cliff I needed and was a really solid favor.”
Clocking in at around half an hour, the nine tracks on This Side of the Island showcase some of Leithauser’s charming musical eccentricities. The meandering saxophone lines infusing the ethereal “Ocean Roar” give off whiffs of mid-‘70s era David Bowie, while the vibraphone runs sprinkled throughout “What Do I Think” add a carnival-like wistfulness to the lyrical musings about the current generation.
Elsewhere, Leithauser’s laconic vocals and the floating guitar riffs threaded through “Off the Beach” give this dreamscape a particularly melancholic sheen. Finally, the title track closes out the album and has a subtle buildup that rises above the detritus of a collapsed relationship, accented by the yearning vulnerability of the narrator wearily pleading, “I just want you to love me,” making it an ode to anyone who’s had their heart broken.
A huge commercial breakthrough never materialized for The Walkmen during the band’s first run that ran through its last show in December 2013 — even as acts that opened for them (ranging from Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie to The National) hit that next level of success. And while the band went on hiatus shortly after that (Leithauser quipped, “That’s not my word, that’s [Walkmen bassist] Pete [Bauer’s] word. I’d call it more of a break.”), Leithauser has carried on as a solo act. Having the band get back together in 2023 was a pleasant surprise for him.
“When we did The Walkmen reunion, it ended up going so much better than anyone thought it would,” Leithauser said. “I was thinking I had to finish my record, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking that since I hadn’t finished my record, why would I not keep playing with my friends, having fun and doing this? It went on for a lot longer than we realized. Everybody is glad to take a break again, but there is no reason to close that door. I never wanted to close the door the first time. I don’t know why we went on that break.”
With This Side of the Island officially out, Leithauser is relishing bringing his new jams to the masses. And while he’s a veteran of sweaty rock clubs, he’s enjoyed refining his live music craft thanks to his experience playing at The Café Carlyle, a legendary Manhattan supper club better known for hosting cabaret acts ranging from Bobby Short and Eartha Kitt to Judy Collins and Woody Allen. The Walkmen vocalist/guitarist came away with a few lessons from playing the Café Carlyle shows and he’s applying the new-school interaction he gained to his current shows.
“I’m going to play all my new jams along with all the hits — the oldies,” he said with a grin. “I like to have a cocktail, tell loud stories and jokes, depending on how many drinks I’ve had. We may have played all of the new songs two times at two shows in Austin. I could tell people liked them, even though this was the first time we played them. I had a sense that it was working. I want to keep it small, like when I play at the Carlyle.”
Hamilton Leithauser, joined by Father John Misty and Lucinda Williams, plays the Andrew J Brady Music Center on July 15 at 7 p.m. More info: bradymusiccenter.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s July 9 print edition.
This article appears in Jul 9-22, 2025.