Q&A: Coastal Club Embraces Honesty and Delicacy on “lost my head (rediscovered)”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY LENA FINE ☆
OHIO-BASED INDIE ROCKERS COASTAL CLUB RETURNED —with a new single on February 7. Despite its fresh and enchanting sound, the song is actually a new take on the version of “lost my head” from their 2024 album, all of the things you said. “lost my head (rediscovered)” explores a gentler side of the sentiments conveyed on the previously-released album version, which drives the listener forward with playful yet intentional dynamics.
The album version of “lost my head” masks intense feelings of instability and warped reality behind an upbeat and captivating vibe. The song is about the friction of questioning confidence and values. The original version, “lost my head,” sonically embraces the more amped-up, high-energy layers of those feelings. With “lost my head (rediscovered),” there is a more delicate exploration and articulation of those same scenarios.
In “lost my head (rediscovered),” there is more space for the listener to sit in those lost and confusing feelings. There is more lyrical and vocal focus, with instrumentals equally as entrancing as before, but with a renewed and more honest energy. We caught up with Coastal Club ahead of their spring tour to discuss “lost my head (rediscovered)” and everything that makes a message worth repeating.
LUNA: What was the motivation for reimagining “lost my head?”
COASTAL CLUB: In this song, we were trying to step inside the mind of someone experiencing their sanity being manipulated. I (Alex) have had several experiences where authority figures tell me what a “correct” worldview is. As soon as I push back against that worldview, they claim I have lost my mind and that I’m crazy. We aimed to vividly depict that feeling and challenge the idea that a synonymous worldview equates to an echochamber.
LUNA: You strike a purity with the rediscovered single; did something in the song gain clarity since its original release that inspired the new version?
COASTAL CLUB: There haven’t been any major revelations regarding the circumstances that inspired this song. We just felt the story wasn’t complete and it needed to be recontextualized for us to feel we had fully done it justice.
Truthfully, our producer, Steve Saputo, almost entirely composed and arranged the mellotron strings outro in the original song. When I first heard it, it brought me to tears. That section alone recontextualized the entire song for me as the writer, and I wanted a version that leaned more into those emotive strings. That’s why we decided to reimagine the song from the ground up and recruited our friend Collins McLaughlin, an incredible composer and violinist, to help us rethink the sonic landscape.
LUNA: Are there other songs off your latest record, all of the things you said that will be “rediscovered?”
COASTAL CLUB: As of now, “lost my head” is the only song that will be rediscovered. It was one of the weightier, more lyrically heavy songs on the album and it also contained the project's namesake. The lyric “all of the things you said” is repeated in the strings outro of the original version, which made us feel it deserved to be rediscovered and reimagined. That said, we don’t feel any of the other songs need the same treatment. A few fans have requested it, and while we’d love to go through this process again, we believe it’s best to focus on our next release and the next chapter of our band rather than spending more time reimagining this project.
LUNA: What was the writing process like for “lost my head?” In its inception, did it feel like there was another version somewhere in the distance?
COASTAL CLUB: The original writing process for “lost my head” was fairly drawn-out. It began with a much happier, more upbeat intro and verse, which then led into the current version of the chorus that landed on “all of the things you said.” However, the more we sat with this original version, the more we felt that the intro and verse didn’t match the chorus’s energy. We realized the verse needed to be rewritten to align with the brooding intensity of the chorus. Eventually, Avery and I rewrote the verse, which contextualized the chorus more appropriately. As I mentioned earlier, it never really felt like this song needed another version until I heard the strings outro that our producer composed. Once I heard that, I knew we had to reexplore the song. I already loved the song in its current form—after all, we had essentially finished the production, so there wasn’t much room to go back. However, I just knew the song had more to offer; it needed to be further explored.
LUNA: You’re about to go on tour! Congrats! Is there a version of “lost my head” you’re favoring playing live over the other?
COASTAL CLUB: Great question! We’ve been playing the original version of “lost my head” for a while now and honestly hadn’t considered performing the rediscovered version live—until a fan commented on social media saying, “Can’t wait to hear this live.” That made us think, “Oh shoot, we might have to play this live.” We’re currently figuring out the best way to pull it off, as there are many elements that will be challenging to reproduce with our current live instrumentation. However, we’re working on making it happen. Hopefully, you’ll be able to hear it at a Coastal Club show near you soon!
