Sour Lemon

Sour Lemon
Sour Lemon
EP by Local Natives
Released	October 23, 2020
Recorded	September 2019
Studio	Sunset Sound
Genre	Indie rock ;
Length	14:43
Label	Loma Vista
Producer	Chris Coady
Local Natives chronology

Last updated June 28, 2023

Sour Lemon is an EP by the American indie rock band Local Natives, released on October 23, 2020 on Loma Vista. The EP was recorded in September 2019 with producer Chris Coady during a break in touring behind their fourth studio album, Violet Street (2019).

Background and composition

The four tracks on Sour Lemon date back to the writing and recording sessions for the band's third and fourth studio albums, Sunlit Youth (2016) and Violet Street (2019), with drummer Matthew Frazier noting: "Most of Sour Lemon had actually been sitting around for awhile. Years, to be honest. Most were songs that didn’t quite make sense for Sunlit Youth or Violet Street, but we felt they had more life in them than just being released as b-sides. Since those seeds already existed, we dove into the studio shortly after getting back from [touring] to see them through."^[1]

With the EP's announcement, the band noted that its songs weren't intended for a full album release: "We’re always working on new music, but songs tend to come at their own pace. There’s something freeing about writing without the goal of an album in mind. It feels like waking up for class only to realize that it’s Saturday and you can sleep in as long as you want. The songs on Sour Lemon each have their own long histories but they all finally decided to arrive at the same time. Rather than waiting, we decided to share them as soon as we could."^[2] Guitarist Ryan Hahn elaborated: "Sometimes it feels like songwriting is like solving a puzzle. It kind of felt that way with these four songs. When you’re making a record, you can spend a lot of time on the tracks. But since we were just recording these, there was no pressure. It’s a nice way to do it."^[3]

The track "Lemon", which features a duet between vocalist and guitarist Taylor Rice and Sharon Van Etten, dates back to the Violet Street writing sessions: "Ryan [Hahn] had the very beginning of that song, toward the end of writing for Violet Street, and we didn't finish it in time. We had met Sharon [Van Etten] years ago when we were making Hummingbird with Aaron Dessner in Brooklyn. She was living there, and she just finished an album with Aaron, and she was so sweet."^[4] The band connected with Van Etten again after she moved from New York to the band's home city of Los Angeles: "We had the idea to do a co-writing session with her, when she just moved to L.A. She wrote with us on it for one day. So after we did this writing and whatnot, we were like, 'Will you do it with us?' and she was like, 'Yeah I would love to, love the song.' That was so fun collaborating on writing to having a duet, and we just fell in love with her voice."^[4]

The EP's first single, "Statues in the Garden (Arras)", was primarily written by guitarist Ryan Hahn while touring in support of the band's second album, Hummingbird (2013): “I wrote "Statues in The Garden" while on tour way back in 2013, the working title "Arras" coming from the French town we were in at the time. For whatever reason, we were never able to get the arrangement to click as a band back then – I remember on a writing trip in Thailand in 2014 we spent hours jamming that song together – but nonetheless we all recognized the potential of the song. Once we decided to book time with Chris Coady [in 2019], I finally came up with the swirling outro and guitar solo. I think another thing that really allowed "Arras" to cross the finish line was Matt [Frazier]’s drumming, which took my chopped samples and programmed beats, and breathed life and personality into them. It’s an incredible live performance on his part."^[1]

Recording

Sour Lemon was recorded at Sunset Sound in September 2019 with producer Chris Coady. Guitarist Ryan Hahn noted: “We’d just finished a long run of touring. If I’m being honest, it was pretty difficult at times. Maybe we were glad to be home between tours and we had this feeling of, ‘Alright, we’re not making a record here. We’re making music. Let’s have fun.’”^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Local Natives.

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Lemon"	Rice/Van Etten	3:17
2.	"Statues in the Garden (Arras)"	Ayer/Rice	3:56
3.	"Lost"	Ayer	3:56
4.	"Future Lover"	Rice	3:33
Total length:			14:43

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babes in Toyland (band)</span> American rock band, formed 1987

Babes in Toyland was an American alternative rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1987. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Kat Bjelland, along with drummer Lori Barbero and bassist Michelle Leon, who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992.

Fountains of Wayne was an American rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young. They released six albums from 1996 to 2011 before effectively disbanding in 2013. They are best known for the Grammy-nominated song "Stacy's Mom".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Sour</span> American rock band

Stone Sour were an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor, Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman and Shawn Economaki left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014. The band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2020.

The Mr. T Experience is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California, United States. They have released eleven full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured internationally. Their music is best classified as pop punk and is intentionally playful, comical, and satirical, often dealing with issues of love and relationships. The band's name is taken from actor and television personality Mr. T.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Lyxzén</span> Swedish musician

Sven Olov Dennis Lyxzén is a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for influential Swedish hardcore punk band Refused, as well as the bands INVSN and Fake Names. He is also a former member of bands including AC4, Step Forward, Final Exit, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and co-founded the Swedish record labels Ny Våg and Desperate Fight Records.

Big Business is an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, founded by bassist/vocalist Jared Warren (Karp) and drummer Coady Willis. They have been based out of Los Angeles since 2006. Their music is characterized by a bombastic and frantic style, and for most of their existence Big Business has been a bass-drums duo.

Just Surrender is an American rock band from Dover Plains, New York, formerly known as A Second Chance, formed by three high school friends: Jason "Jay" Maffucci, Andy Meunier and Steve Miller. The vocalist/guitarist Dan Simons, formerly of The Record Collection, joined the original three and it was a four-piece until 2008. The band is known for the up-beat mood in its music and for not having a lead vocalist, but rather having two vocalists who "share the spotlight". The group has released three studio albums and one EP.

The Nixons are an American alternative rock band formed in 1989. They found commercial success during the mid-1990s, releasing two albums through MCA Records in 1995–1997. The band is best known for the hit singles "Sister" and "Wire" from their album Foma.

Victor Vincent Fuentes is an American musician. He is the co-founder and guitarist of the post-hardcore band Pierce the Veil, which he founded with his brother Mike Fuentes in 2006.

Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade.

The Antlers is an American indie rock band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's songs are written and sung by Peter Silberman. Their music is performed by Silberman and Michael Lerner (drums). The lineup formerly featured Darby Cicci. The band's instrumentation typically consists of vocals, electric guitar, keyboards/synths, drums and an array of other instruments including piano, horns, strings, and electronic elements. Silberman has said that the band's name is taken from The Microphones' song "Antlers".

Luke Reynolds is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, artist, writer and producer.

Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Matt Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass).

Sharon Katharine Van Etten is an American singer-songwriter. She has released the albums Because I Was in Love (2009), Epic (2010), Tramp (2012), Are We There (2014), Remind Me Tomorrow (2019) and We've Been Going About This All Wrong (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hey Violet</span> American pop rock band

Hey Violet is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California, consisting of Rena Lovelis, Nia Lovelis and Casey Moreta.

<i>Trouble Will Find Me</i> 2013 studio album by The National

Trouble Will Find Me is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band The National, released on May 17, 2013, on 4AD.

The Never Ending was an American indie folk band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2013. The Never Ending debuted as a 6-member band with Debby Ryan, Kyle Moore, Johnny Franco, Edwin Carranza, Carman Kubanda and Harry Alen. After the release of the EP 'One', Edwin Carranza, Carman Kubanda and Harry Alen left the band to pursue other personal projects. As of 2015, the band is a trio consisting of vocalist Debby Ryan, guitarist Kyle Moore and drummer Johnny Franco.

<i>Are We There</i> 2014 studio album by Sharon Van Etten

Are We There is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten. It was released on May 27, 2014 via Jagjaguwar.

<i>Sunlit Youth</i> 2016 studio album by Local Natives

Sunlit Youth is the third studio album by American indie rock band Local Natives, released on September 9, 2016 with Loma Vista Recordings.

Kelcey Paul Ayer is an American musician and co-founder of Los Angeles-based indie rock band Local Natives. In 2017, Ayer released a solo album as Jaws of Love.

References

1 2 Jenke, Tyler (November 9, 2020). "Local Natives On Recording & Releasing Their New EP Amidst COVID-19". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 16, 2020.
↑ "Local Natives - Instagram Post, Oct 16th". Instagram . October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
1 2 UITTI, Jasob (October 16, 2020). "Local Natives Enjoyed Decompressing For New Album, 'Sour Lemon'". American Songwriter . Retrieved October 20, 2020.
1 2 Kolomiets, Valeria (October 16, 2020). "Local Natives on the making of 'Sour Lemon' and where the band stands ten years later". Ear Milk. Retrieved October 26, 2020.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Rolling_Stone-1] 1 2 Jenke, Tyler (November 9, 2020). "Local Natives On Recording & Releasing Their New EP Amidst COVID-19". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 16, 2020.

[SourAnnouncement-2] "Local Natives - Instagram Post, Oct 16th". Instagram . October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

[American_Songwriter-3] 1 2 UITTI, Jasob (October 16, 2020). "Local Natives Enjoyed Decompressing For New Album, 'Sour Lemon'". American Songwriter . Retrieved October 20, 2020.

[EarMilk-4] 1 2 Kolomiets, Valeria (October 16, 2020). "Local Natives on the making of 'Sour Lemon' and where the band stands ten years later". Ear Milk. Retrieved October 26, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Local Natives
Studio albums	Gorilla Manor Hummingbird Sunlit Youth Violet Street
EPs	Sour Lemon
Singles	"Breakers" "Past Lives" "Ultralight Beam"