The track is the latest from their upcoming album
The Lemonheads share their new single, “Key of Victory.” This is the third single from the band’s first album of all-new original material in almost two decades. Love Chant arrives on October 24th via Fire Records.
On “Key of Victory,” Evan Dando offers an introspective set of lyrics centring around the importance of honesty to oneself, and its taxing but necessary role in communication. Complementing the driving energy of previous singles, “Deep End” and “In The Margin,” “The Key of Victory” is all slow motion and soft shadows — a modal, meditative piece anchored by Apollo Nove’s winding guitar and Erin Rae’s spectral harmonies. The song was written with David Ashby (Rum Shebeen), and its vocal was recorded at Abbey Road. Stamped with a profound lightness and beauty, “The Key of Victory” is indicative of the songwriting diversity at play on Love Chant.
“It’s quiet, it’s bitchin’. It’s pretty and it’s modal,” says Dando. “I was trying to do like a ‘Street Hassle’ vibe, you know?”
Recorded at São Paulo’s A9 Áudio with producer Apollo Nove (Rita Lee, Bebel Gilberto, Seu Jorge), Love Chant marks the welcome return of a justifiably legendary rock ‘n’ roll band, with founding singer-songwriter-guitarist Evan Dando joined by a bevy of dear friends and collaborators including J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Juliana Hatfield, Tom Morgan (as co-writer for “Deep End”), producer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Antony and the Johnsons), Nashville’s Erin Rae, John Strohm of the Blake Babies co-wrote and played guitar on “Togetherness,” and Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond (a songwriter and performer on the swirling psych-folk gem “Roky”). Adam Green of cult New York favorites The Moldy Peaches also contributes as co-writer on the loose-limbed country detour “Wild Thing.”
The album was heralded by the premieres of the hard-hitting singles, “In The Margin” and “Deep End,” available everywhere. “In The Margin” is a classic Dando composition: half-broken, half-beautiful, wrapped around a melody that disarms before it detonates. “Deep End” was co-written by Dando with longtime collaborator Tom Morgan of Smudge, the churning, riff-powered track, which features an instantly identifiable guitar solo from J Mascis and backing vocals from dear friend and frequent Lemonheads guest Juliana Hatfield.
Over the past few years, The Lemonheads’ influence has only deepened. Artists like MJ Lenderman, Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee have all covered Dando’s songs, praising the emotional clarity, melodic instinct, and wry intimacy that define his writing. That resonance across generations makes Love Chant feel like more than a return — it’s a reminder of what made this band matter in the first place.
The Lemonheads will celebrate Love Chant with a marathon world tour, beginning this summer with a series of headlining shows and top-billed festival appearances across the UK and Europe. North American dates get underway November 11th at Birmingham, AL’s Workplay and then continue through a December 20th tour finale at Nashville’s famed Basement East.
Evan Dando will be releasing his memoir, Rumors of My Demise, on October 7th via Gallery Books.
