Del Water Gap, the eclectic indie-pop project helmed by S. Holden Jaffe, has returned with a sweeping and introspective new single. Released today (July 29) via Mom + Pop, “How to Live” poetically echoes the internal confusion and emotional chaos that we often face during our unpredictable journeys through daily life.
“I know too much it’s freaking me out / But there’s gold under the rust / Figuring out just how to live,” Jaffe admits in the song’s entrancing chorus. “I’m so afraid you’re finding me out / But there’s something in the rough / Figuring out just how to live.”
In a statement, Del Water Gap shares, “this song is about regret and spiritual confusion and the quiet work of survival —— longing to find a version of adulthood that doesn’t feel like surrender ——- how to be vulnerable without being self-pitying ? I want to be better and I don’t always know how—— we live in such an anxious time and I feel anxious a lot of the time too but I also feel hopeful and I hope you do too, at least some of the time.”
With the release of “How to Live,” Del Water Gap seems to be hinting at the beginning of a new creative chapter, marking his first new music since I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet dropped in 2023. Although no future full-length project has been confirmed so far, Del Water Gap will be keeping busy in the coming months with tour dates across the U.K. and Australia through early October. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping this track in rotation while we patiently await more news about any future releases.
Watch the official visualizer for “How to Live” below:
Del Water Gap’s 2025 Tour Dates:
July 31-Aug. 3 – Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza
Aug. 1 – Chicago, Ill. @ Schubas Taven [SOLD OUT]
Aug. 21 – London, U.K. @ Here at Outernet [SOLD OUT]
Aug. 22 – Leeds, U.K. @ Leeds Festival
Aug. 24 – Reading, U.K. @ Reading Festival
Aug. 26 – Belfast, U.K. @ Ulster Hall
Aug. 27 – Dublin, County Dublin @ The National Stadium
Sept. 20 – Torquay, Aus. @ Torquay Common
Sept. 21 – Melbourne, Vic. @ Max Watt’s
Sept. 23 – Adelaide, S.A. @ Lions Art Factory
Sept. 26 – Brisbane City, Aus. @ Riverstage ^
Sept. 27 – Sunshine Coast, Aus. @ The Station ^
Sept. 28 – Wollongong, Aus. @ UOW Unihall ^
Sept. 30 – Sydney, Aus. @ Liberty Hall
Oct. 4 – Fremantle, Aus. @ Esplanade Park
Oct. 4 – Fremantle, Aus. @ Fremantle Prison
^ supporting The Wombats