Five years removed from the release of ‘Routine Maintenance,‘ Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties will return on April 12th with ‘In Lieu Of Flowers’.
Fronted by The Wonder Years‘ Dan Campbell, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties has grown from Campbell’s fictional solo project to an ever-changing collective. Nevertheless, ‘In Lieu Of Flowers’ promises to stay rooted in the story of Aaron West. Having previously dealt with divorce, moving cross-country to Los Angeles, playing open mic nights, his band gains some traction only for West to abandon touring in favour of supporting his grieving sister Catherine and nephew Colin following the death of her husband. ‘In Lieu Of Flowers’ sees Aaron West face the personal wounds he’s been avoiding.
On the character-led narrative aspect of Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, and the way crowds are drawn into it, Campbell compares it to pro-wrestling. “What makes the storytelling come alive is the buy-in. There’s this arena full of people and they know that person in the ring isn’t an undead zombie mortician (The Undertaker). It’s a guy, his name is Mark, but they buy into it because that mass suspension of disbelief is where the magic is.”
1. Smoking Room
2. Roman Candles
3. Paying Bills at the End of the World
4. Monogahela Park
5. Alone at St. Luke’s
6. Whiplash
7. Spitting in the Wind
8. I’m an Albatross
9. Runnin’ Out of Excuses
10. In Lieu of Flowers
11. Dead Leaves
Pre-order here.
Hear the Title Track from ‘In Lieu of Flowers’
As a preview, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties have shared ‘In Lieu of Flowers’‘ title track. With Campbell’s familiar voice, it’s complemented by rich instrumentation from the 15-person collective, with brass and strings alongside AWatRT‘s usual Americana folk rock.
Lyrically, it continues the diaristic nature of Aaron West with guilt-laden lines such as “I swear that I’m gonna fix it” and “this time ‘sorry’ don’t cut it”.
