The War On Drugs are nearly twenty years into their musical career, and they still approach their art as if they are just getting started. After making their return to music after taking a brief hiatus, the band returned with rock vengeance.
Still riding the high from their 2021 album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, musicians Adam Granduciel, David Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Jon Natchez, Anthony LaMarca, and Eliza Hardy Jones returned to Austin City Limits to perform songs off of the project. Known for their stellar live shows, the group held nothing back as they performed the song “Harmonia’s Dream.”
Co-produced by Shawn Everett and co-written by frontman Adam and keyboardist Robbie, the track is a gentle guide through emotional yearning. As Adam delicately sings, “I was lost in the light that can’t be seen / Don’t move around in front of me / I’m on a scene, I’m overdrive / You lay awake, you know the way / You know the path I’m walkin’ on / Are we the cast you’re leanin’ on,” the audience becomes tethered to the rocker’s heartstrings.
In the stanza, “Well, I’m gone like a light that can’t be seen / Don’t look away, it’s just a dream / I’m out of touch, so out of reach / It’s comin’ back, and I’m movin’ fast / Just one more day, and I’m home at last,” the audience is prepared to enter into this emotional battle on behalf of the band.
Based on their on-stage chemistry and certainty in the delivery while performing the song, it’s hard to tell that the group considered the project to be an unrefined pile of creative ideas at one point as Adam told SPIN.
Watch the full performance of “Harmonia’s Dream” above. Click here to watch The War On Drug’s full Austin City Limits set.
