Love Letter To A Record: Nathan Ball On The War On Drugs' 'Lost In The Dream'

Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.

In this series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.

Nathan Ball – Lost In The Dream by The War On Drugs

I remember first hearing this album front to back when I was driving back from a surf trip in Hossegor in the South West of France, driving through the pine forests with salty hair, the windows down and the evening sun in the wing mirrors. It couldn’t have been a better setting for it and I was totally blown away.

If ‘Under the Pressure’ isn’t the most perfect opening song to an album ever written, then I don’t know what is. That build in the middle is pure euphoria – We were playing in Berlin in December and found out The War On Drugs were playing the same night, I was devastated to be missing them so we begged the promoter to make our show time earlier, so he put us on at 8 and we ran across town to see them. During ‘Under the Pressure’ live, the build lasted about 5 minutes and when the tension was released there was the most amazing energy in the room, everyone’s fists went up, pumping with the kick drum, it was an incredibly cathartic experience… absolute magic.

The whole album is an emotional rollercoaster, there’s the driving tracks like ‘Under the Pressure’, ‘Red Eyes’ and ‘Ocean in Between the Waves’ that make you want to run away into the sunset forever, then the heart wrenching tracks like ‘Suffering’, ‘Disappearing’ and ‘In Reverse’ that make you want to ball your eyes out. It’s dad rock at its absolute finest, but it’d the dad who gets emotional during his speech at his daughter’s wedding.

The whole album is a masterpiece from start to finish and has soundtracked so much of my life in the last 4 years. It sparks so many emotions for me and always transports me to a different place, most notably to that first place driving through France. In a world where a lot of people are losing interest in albums, this is an absolute work of art and the most solid two fingers up to those who have given up on the format. If you haven’t heard it, I insist you stick it on right now… or maybe wait for the long drive!

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UK-based singer-songwriter Nathan Ball has just revealed his new single ‘Call It Love’, a sensationally stirring indie hymn that will pluck gently at your heartstrings. It coincides with his currently unfolding Australian tour supporting Ziggy Alberts.

Catch those dates – and take ‘Call It Love’ for a spin – below.