The Lemonheads share their new single, “Key of Victory,” today. This is the third single from the band’s first album of all-new original material in almost two decades. Love Chant arrives via Fire Records on Friday, October 24. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now.
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. The song was met by worldwide attention upon its premiere last month by such high-profile publications as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Uncut, Stereogum, and Consequence, the latter of which praised its long-awaited reprise of the Lemonheads’ “scrappy, guitar-forward rock sound.” An official music video, filmed on location in São Paulo, Brazil, by directors Carlão Busato and Luigi Parisi, is streaming now on YouTube.
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 headline shows and top-billed festival appearances across the UK and Europe. North American dates get underway November 11 at Birmingham, AL’s WORKPLAY and then continue through a December 20 tour finale at Nashville, TN’s famed Basement East. For complete details, please visit www.thelemonheads.net/tour.
Evan Dando will be releasing his memoir, Rumors of My Demise, via Gallery Books, on October 7.
THE LEMONHEADS – LOVE CHANT WORLD TOUR 2025
AUGUST
13 – London, UK – Rough Trade East -Solo Show
14 – Northampton, UK – Roadmender
15 – Norwich, UK – Rock N Roll Circus,
16 – Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz *
17 – Glasgow, UK – Garage *
19 – Belfast, UK – Limelight
20 – Limerick, Ireland – Dolans Warehouse
21 – Cork, Ireland – Cyprus Avenue
23 – Waterford, Ireland – Bank Lane
24 – Dublin, Ireland – Academy
26 – Sheffield, UK – Foundry *
27 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
28 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
29 – Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser Strand
30 – Oslo, Norway – John Dee
SEPTEMBER
1 – Trondheim, Norway – Byscenen
4 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen (SOLD OUT)
5 – Hamburg, Germany – Molotow Club (SOLD OUT)
6 – Stekene, Belgium – Crammerock Festival †
8 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg Oz
9 – Cologne, Germany – Luxor
11 – Berlin, Germany – Frannz Club
12 – Warsaw, Poland – Proxima
15 – Zurich, Switzerland – Bogen F
16 – Zagreb, Croatia – Vintage Industrial Bar
18 – Paris, France – Café de la Danse
20 – La Roche-Sur-Yon, France – Quai M
22 – Granada, Spain – Lemon Rock Bar & Hotel (SOLD OUT)
23 – Madrid, Spain – Sala Wagon
24 – Lisbon, Portugal – LAV2
26 – Barcelona, Spain – Apolo 2
27 – Valencia, Spain – Visorfest †
OCTOBER
1 – Penryn, UK – The Verdant Taproom (Evan Dando Solo)
NOVEMBER
11 – Birmingham, AL – WORKPLAY
12 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
13 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
14 – Norfolk, VA – The Annex
15 –Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
16 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
18 – Lititz, PA – Mickey’s Black Box
19 – New York, NY – Racket
20 – Fairfield, CT – The Warehouse at FTC
21 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
22 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall
23 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace
25 – Amherst, MA – The Drake
26 – Boston, MA – The Wilbur
28 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater
29 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
30 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
DECEMBER
2 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
3 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner
4 – Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
5 – Madison, WI – Majestic
6 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
8 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
10 – Dallas, TX – Echo
11 – Houston, TX – Bad Astronaut
12 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
13 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
14 – Fort Worth, TX – Tannahill’s
16 – St Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
17 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
18 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
19 – Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall
20 – Nashville, TN – Basement East
* w/Bevis Frond
† FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
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