Dead Meadow Premiere “Lost to Light” From Foundlings
Dead Meadow‘s new collection, Foundlings, is out July 31 on Heavy Psych Sounds. And of course, with a release compiling seven songs from different recordings sessions between 2002 and 2024, there are always going to be variances in sound even before you get to different personnel involved — drummers Mark Laughlin and Stephen McCarty mostly trade off, but it’s Steve Kille, who passed away in 2024, on bass and Jason Simon on guitar and vocals throughout — but considering it’s Dead Meadow, you’re never not going to have a flow, and sure enough, as “Lost to Light” (premiering below) from the sessions of 2025’s Voyager to Voyager (review here) opens and shifts into the light-touch shuffle of “Nobody Home,” the fuzzy, ‘gazey-hazy vibe is on lock and it stays that way across the somewhat perfunctory 40-minute span.
I say ‘perfunctory’ because obviously the intention with Foundlings is to assemble something to sell to Dead Meadow‘s established fanbase, so they hit that mark, but — especially in the case of this band — that doesn’t mean the only thing they have to offer is fodder for completists. The ultra-eased roll of “Everything is Goin’ On,” originally from 2003’s Shivering King and Others and here taken from a 2002 ‘Committee to Keep Music Evil Session,’ makes a whole world in its early low end, following the centerpiece take on The Beatles‘ “Tomorrow Never Knows” tracked eight years ago because time is an illusion anyway and if you’re here, you might as well keep warm.
Yeah, there are stark-ish changes in sound, as from the uptempo “Nobody Home” to the more foreboding Powell St. John cover “Kingdom of Heaven,” or the later fuzz-march/cymbal wash of “Everything is Goin’ On” — which if you believe in riff worship should have you building an altar; or, you know, starting a band — rumbling out ahead of their take on “No Quarter,” bringing new
spaciousness to the Led Zeppelin classic.
The loss of Kille continues to resonate, particularly as he recorded some of this material in addition to playing on all of it. As Dead Meadow have moved forward, they’ve given due homage to Kille‘s importance in the band, and it’s not explicitly stated on the record, but that’s part of what’s being summarized in Foundlings as well through recordings spanning more than two decades. He was and remains an important part of the band, and grief takes (1:) multiple forms, and (2:) time. His loss is an inevitable part of the story here.
Nonetheless, soothing as they are, “Lost to Light” as the opener demonstrates the undercurrent that runs through Dead Meadow songs when they want it to, and the way Foundlings is set up, it draws the listener further in with “Nobody Home” and the jammy “Kingdom of Heaven” following, “Tomorrow Never Knows” — which, honestly, is worth the price of admission on its own — leading to the side B plunge with “Everything is Goin’ On” and “No Quarter” ahead of the ambient finale “From the Children of Planet Earth,” which finishes with the sample of Nick Sagan (son of Carl) that went out with the Voyager probe in 1977 greeting future alien travelers, the song an otherwise instrumental landing point as much as you can ‘land’ while floating in zero-gravity.
So yeah, it’s off-album tracks and odds and ends, and no doubt the band have accumulated enough of them over the last nearly-three decades that Foundlings could be a series if they wanted it to, but while it might be a fan-piece rather than a place for newcomers to start — there are so many arguments on where to begin with this band that thinking about it makes my head feel like it’s going to explode, so I’ll just say start at the start and work your way up — there’s still a richness to the sound that is signature to Dead Meadow, and a fluid procession between the songs that gives an album-style impression. You will never doubt what band you’re listening to while hearing it, but between the covers and jams and the experimental edge with which they top it off, Foundlings captures more range than it might at first appear.
“Lost to Light” premieres on the player below, followed by more from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Dead Meadow, “Lost to Light” track premiere
Preorder link: https://heavypsychsounds.com/?post_type=product&s=foundlings
Featuring the core lineup of guitarist and vocalist Jason Simon and late bassist Steve Kille, with drum duties split between Mark Laughlin and Stephen McCarty, Foundlings compiles material recorded between 2002 and 2024. Highlights include a rendition of Powell St. John’s “Kingdom of Heaven” (from the Sonic Cathedral sessions), a take on The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” (from The Nothing They Need sessions), and a version of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” originally cut for a Cleopatra Records tribute, alongside originals drawn from the Voyager to Voyager album recording sessions, a EarthQuaker Devices session, and a Committee to Keep Music Evil session recorded with Anton Newcombe and Rob Campanella (The Brian Jonestown Massacre).
Foundlings is poised to be essential listening for both long-time devotees and new converts. It arrives as the band continues to cement a legacy defined by fearless exploration.
TRACKLIST:
1. Lost To Light (2023 Voyager to Voyager sessions)
2. Nobody Home (2022 Earthquaker Devices Session)
3. Kingdom Of Heaven (Powell St. John cover) (2010 at The Psychedelic Sounds of Sonic Cathedral)
4. Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles cover) (2017 The Nothing They Need sessions)
5. Everything’s Goin’ On (2002 Committee to Keep Music Evil Sessions)
6. No Quarter (Led Zeppelin cover) (2017 Cleopatra Records Led Zeppelin tribute)
7. From The Children Of Planet Earth (2024 Voyager to Voyager sessions)
DEAD MEADOW on “Foundlings”
Jason Simon – guitar, vocals, organ
Steve Kille – bass (recording tracks 3, 4, 6)
Mark Laughlin – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)
Stephen McCarty – drums (tracks 3, 5) and organ (track 5)
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Tags: California, Dead Meadow, Dead Meadow Foundlings, Foundlings, Heavy Psych Sounds, Los Angeles
