Interview: New York Alt-Rock Band Earthquake Lights Pair Brooding Psychedelia with Narcissistic Swagger on “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be”

Ahead of their upcoming fourth studio album’s 2027 arrival, New York’s Earthquake Lights share “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be,” a confident, brooding new single that turns psychedelic alt-rock swagger into a character study of arrogance, narcissism and questionable wisdom. Inspired in part by the unruly spirit of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the track inhabits the mind of a self-described artist whose certainty in his own worldview is as compelling as it is misguided.

The song began with a handful of chords the band initially considered disposable. Once they played them together, however, the feeling proved too good to abandon. The confidence of the emerging arrangement soon suggested a personality of its own, providing the foundation for vocalist/pianist Myles Rodenhouse and collaborator Will Cavanaugh to develop the character at the centre of the song.

The result is a narrator who is arrogant, self-important, and convinced he has life figured out. Yet rather than reducing him to a caricature, “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be” leaves a small but uncomfortable possibility hanging in the air: somewhere beneath all that narcissistic bluster, he might actually have a point. The question is whether he’s someone whose advice you would ever want to take.

The song’s unusual title emerged from one of its defining lyrics, a line that seemed to capture the character so completely that it ultimately sparked the broader lyrical concept. That sense of self-assurance permeates the arrangement as well, allowing the personality of the narrator and the music surrounding him to become increasingly difficult to separate.

A driving force behind that atmosphere is guitarist Cameron Underhill’s spacious, deliberate guitar work. Reverb-drenched chords stretch across the verses without crowding them, leaving deliberate pockets of space for the drums, bass, and vocal. The result is open yet imposing, giving the song a psychedelic haze without sacrificing the muscular momentum of its alternative-rock foundation.

That looseness also carried into the recording itself. Rather than constructing the performance piece by piece, Earthquake Lights recorded the core of “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be” together at Douglass Recording in Brooklyn with very little comping or editing. Guitarist Justin Garcia improvised the song’s solo on the day, preserving the session’s spontaneity, while vocals, Rhodes and strings orchestrated by Mitchell McCarthy were added later.

The track was co-produced alongside Phil Joly, formerly Chief Engineer at Electric Lady Studios, continuing the creative partnership introduced on the band’s previous single. Its sweeping strings were recorded at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios as part of a single-day orchestral session for much of the forthcoming album, with additional passages later punched in with an orchestra in Brooklyn.

“Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be” arrives as the second single from Earthquake Lights’ upcoming fourth full-length album, due in early 2027. Where previous single “Too Late” explored longing and regret through soulful, neo-classical songwriting, the new release reveals a decidedly darker and more confrontational side of the record, driven by character, swagger and the uneasy line between confidence and delusion.

1. What did you enjoy most about creating this new release?
We cut this track together as a band (except for vocal and strings). I played a Wurlitzer while we were tracking, which ultimately we replaced with Rhodes as we preferred the tone of the rhodes for this. But I still feel the live element to this, and I really love that about this one.

2. Share a nugget of advice that has resonated with you most over the years.
My father worked with planes, and he once told me that jet engines that sit still without being used can need maintenance just from sitting there. But if the engine is used daily, it keeps on trucking along as always! He meant that my mind and body stay at their best if I find ways to use them every day. And maybe hand in hand with that “If you don’t know what to do, just do something!”. Thanks Dad!

3. Who would be your dream artist or band to co-headline a tour with?
Radiohead! This one has been cut and dried for me since probably high school.

4. What sets your music apart from others in your genre?
We focus on making records that aren’t “throwback”, but that are informed by music from the past. I think walking that line can be tricky, and if we (hopefully) pull it off, then I’d like it to feel like and extension of old song craft, but fresh and new.

5. Tell us your favourite song at the moment and why.
I’m not sure I could ever pick a favorite song, but I’ve been spinning “Summertime Blue” a whole lot by Norah Jones ft. John Legend. And I only recently discovered that my friends Dave Eggar and Chuck Palmer worked on it a bit as well, so I’ll go with that one!