Singled Out: Lochaven's The Promised Land

Michigan rockers Lochaven are gearing up to release their debut album "Change Is Upon Us" early next month and to celebrate we asked Gabriel Toth to tell us about the lead single "The Promised Land". Here is the story:

"The Promised Land" was written at an interesting time in the band's history. Lochaven wasn't officially off the ground yet; at that point, Jake (Fultz, guitar) and I were just crafting the bare bones of what would become many Lochaven songs. During that time, I felt like we were missing a really anthemic, singalong tune. So I shared my thoughts with Jake, and a few days later, he sent me a recording of something that he thought matched what I described. The moment I pressed play and listened to it, I knew we had it.

After that initial rush of getting the instrumental figured out, though, there was a bit of a comedown. See, the final chorus vocal melody didn't come to me right away, and I actually lobbied to get the key changed a few times to match some other vocal melodies I had come up with. But Jake was adamant that we keep it where it was, and clearly he had the right idea. After messing around with the chord progression on my guitar one night, the melody hit me seemingly out of nowhere, and I knew right then and there that another piece had been added to the puzzle.

The song's lyrics are really just a general encapsulation of where my head was at during that time in life. I had recently taken some time off from school because I felt directionless and apathetic towards what I was studying. I was in a bit of a limbo state at that point in time, and the only thing I was absolutely positive about was that I wanted to play music. So those lyrics are really just my way of saying, "Yeah, I may not be exactly where I want to be in life right now, but if I just keep moving forward, I'll eventually find my way."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!