Two years ago, when we were all still trying to make sense of what our futures would look like in the wake of the pandemic, The War On Drugs appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. They performed an unreleased song called “Oceans Of Darkness,” but as was the custom in those times, each of the band’s members were in their respective homes and playing the tune on Zoom. It was a gorgeous glimmer of hope through music and now, “Oceans Of Darkness” is out as one of two new additions (along with “Slow Ghost”) to the deluxe edition of I Don’t Live Here Anymore.
The deluxe album is streaming now and a vinyl box set edition will be out on September 30th featuring an art book with photos, a poster, a 7″ record of “Oceans Of Darkness” and “Slow Ghost,” and other goodies. Singer Adam Granduciel of The War On Drugs — who are currently on tour — shared a statement about making “Oceans Of Darkness” and the circumstance that led up to it’s eventual release today:
“One night in LA, while we were many months into working on what would be I Don’t Live Here Anymore, Dave [Hartley] uncovered a stripped down demo in my dropbox called ‘Oceans Of Darkness,’ and insisted we try recording it. We were frustrated and exhausted at the time, but we set up in a circle after dinner and worked it out as the tape was rolling. It’s rare that a song of ours could feel this complete after only a few takes, but it had all the desperation and urgency that we had been looking for. Ultimately I didn’t include it on the record because I couldn’t find a home for it among the other songs. We’re happy we can share it with you now.”
You can listen to “Oceans Of Darkness” above and “Slow Ghost” below.
I Don’t Live Here Anymore (Deluxe Edition) is out now via Atlantic Records. Listen to it here.
The War On Drugs is a Warner Music artist. .
