.

Exclusive Download: Lost Lander's Lush 'Afraid of Summer'

Get a track from Oregon group's debut album

January 5, 2012 12:00 PM ET
Lost Lander, Afraid of Summer
Lost Lander, 'Afraid of Summer'
Ben Moon

Click to listen to Lost Lander's 'Afraid of Summer'

Lost Lander is a new project of Portland, Oregon-based Matt Sheehy and producer Brent Knopf, formerly of Menomena. "Afraid of Summer" is the lush, atmospheric second track from their debut album DRRT, set for release on January 17th.

While the song nearly wrote itself in one sitting, Sheehy says that the scary vibes nearly prevented him from finishing.

"It had this spooky, mesmerizing quality to it, and I felt hypnotized when I finally stopped working," he says. "The vibe really scared me, and I put it away, thinking I wouldn't revisit it."

Teaming up with Knopf was the impetus to resume working on "Afraid of Summer." "He kept coming back to it saying, 'I really think you should spend some more time on this,'" Sheehy says. "I'm glad he did. It's now one of my favorites, although I'm still a little confused by it."

Random Notes

Though the track seems deeply personal and emotionally charged, Sheehy doesn't completely relate to its protagonist. "I don't really believe in ghosts, but I really wouldn't be surprised to find out someone else was responsible for writing this song," he says.

Lost Lander's debut DRRT will be released on January 17th, and you can exclusively download "Afraid of Summer" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »