With their latest single, Dawes offer an indie rock reflection on the unpredictable changes that accompany the passage of time. Released Wednesday (Sept. 18), “Surprise!” is a bold, groovy examination of past journeys and where all those winding roads led you to today.
“Now the nature of your birthday party has changed a lot for me / What was once a celebration feels like a shameless victory,” Goldsmith reflects soulfully. “I guess we all confuse our happiness with what it takes to just survive / But the moment that the switch gets flipped is always a surprise.”
“The things you hope for never arrive as anticipated, if at all,” band member Taylor Goldsmith shares in a statement. “The things that scare you are not what you should have actually been worried about. The person you were wouldn’t recognize the person you are, but not in the ways you’d expect. [‘Surprise!’ is] a song about getting older and taking stock in how elegantly (or not) we’ve all navigated the terrain.”
The track serves as the latest in a string of singles released ahead of Dawes’ ninth studio album, Oh Brother, set for release on Oct. 11. Goldsmith, his sibling and bandmate Griffin Goldsmith, and Mike Viola co-produced the 9-track LP, which explores fresh territory for the long-running band. Oh Brother is the group’s first full-length project since the amicable departure of members Lee Pardini and Wylie Gelber in 2023, created in a chapter of self-examination that also cultivated newfound inspiration.
“All you can really do is find out what are the most essential, truest, and idiosyncratic parts of yourself,” Taylor Goldsmith says. “And I like the fact that Griffin and I are kind of clinging to each other and holding on to each other more than we ever have. We’re grateful for each other in a new way. But we’ve also been through a lot.”
“It feels like we’re reborn in a way, and I mean that with so, so much love and gratitude to everyone we’ve ever played with before! This is what it means to be a lifer, to have iterations,” Goldsmith continues. “It means having phases and chapters, and this is a very clear delineation as to the beginning of a new one. So Oh Brother feels like a ninth record, but it also feels like a first record.”
Watch the official lyric video for “Surprise!” below:
Dawes, ‘Oh Brother’ Track List:
1. “Mr. Los Angeles”
2. “Front Row Seat”
3. “Still Strangers Sometimes”
4. “Surprise!”
5. “House Parties”
6. “King of the Never-Wills”
7. “The Game”
8. “Enough Already”
9. “Hilarity Ensues”
