Hayden – “East Coast” (Prod. Aaron Dessner)

The Canadian indie rock lifer Hayden has been putting out music for a good long while now, though we haven’t heard from him since 2015’s Hey Love. Today, he’s back with a new single called “East Coast,” which was produced by Aaron Dessner.

“I was inspired to write this song after covering a Leonard Cohen song called ‘Avalanche’ for the promotion of the film Death Of A Ladies Man,” Hayden said in a statement. “I switched the finger-picking guitar to a rolling piano part and liked the feel so much, I just kept playing until this chord progression appeared.” He continued:

The words came later after an autumn visit to Newfoundland. To me, the East Coast imagery matched the circular playing perfectly. I remember feeling like I hit on something when I dialed in a synth that sounded like a ship’s fog horn. The final touch was getting Toronto legend Kurt Swinghammer to do his guitar magic over the end section. He did something in a similar vein on a song of mine called Street Car over 20 years ago, and it was one of my favorite moments on Skyscraper National Park.

Check it out below.

“East Coast” is out now via Arts & Crafts.