The War On Drugs just put out a new album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Around the time they released their previous album in 2017, the band’s bassist Dave Hartley put out a new album of his own as Nightlands. Today, he’s back with news of another Nightlands project, an EP called Moonshine that he wrote after leaving Philadelphia for Asheville. The whole EP will be out December 10, and today he’s sharing a single called “Hymn To Me.” Here’s his statement on it:

In the summer of 2015 I spent a magical weekend at Big Pink in Saugerties with my fiance (now wife) and some good friends (including Mike Taylor, Brad and Phil Cook from Hiss Golden Messenger). We made tacos together in the kitchen and drank in the yard and felt giddy just being there. I slept in Richard Manuel’s room and thought about prying up a floorboard to see if I could find some lost lyrics or maybe one of Rick Danko’s plectrums. We listened to The Band and Bob all day, of course, and it really felt like a pilgrimage. One night we stayed up until the smallest hours, playing guitars around a fire and trying to remember the words to Acadian Driftwood. Conversations drifted somehow to Nick Lowe and Pub Rock torchbearers Brinsley Schwarz, and apparently I made boozy plans to record a version of one their most pastoral compositions, Hymn to Me–plans so boozy that it took me over six years to follow through on them. Originally I thought about asking Brad, Phil and Mike to help me with the harmonies, but once I started laying them down, I couldn’t help myself. I did get an assist from Meg Duffy on the guitar instrumental and Robbie Bennett and John James Tourville on the organ and pedal steel, respectively.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Beasters”
02 “Hymn To Me”
03 “Wonder”
04 “No Alabama”
05 “Don’t Tread On Me”
06 “Wonder Reprise”

The Moonshine EP is out on 12/10.