PREMIERE: Singer-Songwriter Hayden Arp Captures The Calm Of Reflection With New Single “Passenger” From Upcoming Debut Album

For Virginia-born, Vienna-based singer-songwriter Hayden Arp, his new single “Passenger” has taken quite the journey to get to where it is today. Originally written back in 2018, the song eventually bounced around country in different studios until finding its way to ears of his fans almost four years later. The first single from his long-awaited debut full-length With Eliza, out November 18th (edited), “Passenger” is a reflection on the beauty of summer and the memories that come with it – especially those forged in his hometown of Alexandria, VA.

“There was a week in 2018 when I had the house to myself and nothing on the agenda”, Hayden shares. “Sun and and the sounds of crickets flowed through the windows, and, as I began to relax into the openness, a number of songs began to flow out. In that week I tracked guitars for most songs on the With Eliza record.”

And thus the journey of “Passenger” began.

First stop was Nashville, TN in 2019 to record drums with drummer/producer Jake Finch (Lucy Dacus, Bre Kennedy). On the same trip, he recorded a string quartet consisting of Riley Calcagno, Mobey Irizarry Lambright, Josephine Stockwell, and Raffi Boden at his alma mater, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In 2020, Arp recorded electric guitars for the record while living in Los Angeles. And, finally, vocals and mixing for the song took place in 2021 at his home studio in Vienna, Austria.

Hayden continues, “One of my favorite things about the song is how many places and times are contained within it. Just as the lyrics point back nostalgically to times gone by, the recording itself brings so many locations and times in my life together.”

The serenity and warmth of the memories come through his charming indie folk sound. Hayden’s dreamy vocals float across the well-travelled instrumentation, as the strings and acoustic guitar become best friends with their heartwarming qualities. Needless to say, “Passenger” is a welcomed anthem for the slow-passing best days of summer.

Read through the latest Q&A further down as Hayden talks about his inspiration and the process for With Eliza.

Pre-save the single here and get your first listen before the rest of the world below:

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Over the last few years since you started the album, how have you changed as an artist? 

I think the largest change has been in my temperament. For many years I was kind of brutal in my perfectionism, not allowing space for mistakes in the music. Since starting this record in 2018, I’ve become much kinder with myself. Now I have a lot more affection for some of the blemishes and imperfections that arose early in this album process, as well as for the younger version of myself who was trying to work through them.

How does “Passenger” fit in with the rest of the album? 

Thematically and sonically, Passenger is representative of a lot of what’s going on in With Eliza: road trips, summertime, and the desire to express yourself well. 

What inspired “Passenger”? 

Most of my songs start with musical ideas, with lyrics stemming from a single improvised idea or phrase. Passenger’s first lyric was: “When the most high / met us here below / blessed shoulderblade / you took off your clothes.” It’s most simply a lyric about skinny dipping, but it has this nostalgic warmth to it, which I like and is a through-line across the whole record.

‘With Eliza’ seems to have traveled quite a lot; how would you put into words the impact bringing it around with you has had on your music? 

That’s a really good question. I think all the movement has solidified the album’s sonic and spiritual origins for me. By that I mean: With Eliza began in Virginia in the summer, thinking about Virginia in summers past. The album started with a backwards-lens, if that makes any sense. And in every place I’ve worked on it, I’ve been thinking back to Virginia, and the start of the process. 

Do you have a favourite lyric from the song that really resonates with you? 

I just adore the line “And as you swim out, into the key of sea, I charm the homonym, as you hum the harmony.” I think it’s literary and a little ridiculous, but it’s also such a delight to sing. I sometimes love doing that – leaning into words just because of how nice they sound.

What is one thing you are looking forward to when it comes to releasing your debut album?

I’ve lived with these songs for a long time. In releasing them, they will be experienced as brand new by a lot of people, and I’m excited to see how that feels. To see how people respond to the music, and to see how my relationship with the music shifts, now that it is out in the world. I’m also excited to move forward. This album has taken on a mythic weight in my artistic life for the past few years, and I’ve felt incapable from moving on to the next project until it was done. Now, with a release date set, I can do that.

(Feature Image by Joey Wharton)