Evan Dando, the only permanent member of fuzz-pop institution the Lemonheads, was one of the great lovable wastrels of the '90s alt-rock boom. He's had a bumpy ride over the decades. The last time we heard from him, he was working on his memoir and reportedly clean of all drugs except LSD. The last Lemonheads album was Varshons II, a cover collection that came out in 2019. The last time they released a new album that wasn't all covers, it was the self-titled record that came out way back in 2006. But now there's another new Lemonheads LP on the way, and Dando has just released a couple of songs that he made with help from some old friends.
In 2023, the Lemonheads released a double single with a new song called "Fear Of Living" and a cover of Eugene Kelly's "Seven Out." That's the formula that Dando follows with his new Lemonheads single, too -- one original, one cover. Dando recently signed to Fire Records, and a new Lemonheads album called Love Chant is set to arrive this fall. The band's new song "Deep End" is a sloppily joyous deadpan riff-pop stomper. Dando co-wrote it with his longtime writing partner, Australian indie auteur Tom Morgan, and two of Dando's old contemporaries from the Boston scene in the '80s help out on it. Fellow alt-rock hitmaker Juliana Hatfield, a former Lemonheads member whose history is all bound up with the band, sings backup. Dinosaur Jr. leader J Mascis plays guitar. The gang's all here!
The other song goes in a very different aesthetic direction. It's a cover of "Sad Cinderella," which first appeared on Townes Van Zandt's 1968 debut album For The Sake Of The Song and which Van Zandt re-recorded later in his career. Evan Dando and Nashville singer-songwriter Erin Rae sing that one as a duet, and it's lovely. Dando has been doing old-school country covers for decades, and he's very good at it. The Lemonheads recorded both songs in São Paulo with producer Apollo Nove, and "Deep End" has a video from directors Luigi Parisi and Carlão Busato. Listen to both songs below.
"Deep End" b/w "Sad Cinderella" is out now on Fire. Check out our We've Got A File On You interview with Evan Dando here and our Alternative Number Ones column on "Into Your Arms" here.
