Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties Master Melancholy On New Song "Whiplash"; "In Lieu Of Flowers" Out April 12

A triumphant kind of melancholy colors In Lieu Of Flowers, the upcoming album from Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties, as if somewhere beyond our main character's suffering lies his happy ending. The project is a work of narrative fiction by primary songwriter and mastermind Dan Campbell (The Wonder Years). Every gig and every person in every room has an effect on where the story could go next.

On their new song "Whiplash," out today, Aaron is hiding his drinking again, buried underneath the weight of his decisions in the months after finishing the band's UK tour by himself––an arc captured on the band's most recent single, "Alone at St. Luke's."

Co-written by runner.'s Noah Henry Weinman, "Whiplash" is the album's eye of the storm––a somber moment that sets up the chain of events to follow. It's masterfully executed with pedal steel and a heartbreaking falsetto chorus; an achy and pensive ballad that ruminates in the uncertainty of whatever comes next

To understand the story of "In Lieu Of Flowers" is to know where Aaron's path has taken him so far. It all begins with the worst year of his life, marked by profound loss––grief, divorce and miscarriage––detailed on his 2014 debut, "We Don't Have Each Other", and 2016's "Bittersweet" (EP).

2019's "Routine Maintenance" begins a new chapter for Aaron, albeit short-lived. After a bar fight lands him in jail and he has no one to call, Aaron heads to Los Angeles for a fresh start where he occupies his time between crappy jobs and open mic nights. On the road playing gigs, he forms a band and they start to gain some traction before another blow hits his family––the loss of his brother-in-law. He finds a new purpose in the aftermath; "I'm going to be someone you can count on for a change", he sings on the album's closing title track.

The new album picks up where "Routine Maintenance" left off, starting from the solo tours that Dan went on shortly after its release––on stage, he talked about leaving the band to care for his grieving sister Catherine and nephew Colin, but that solo touring felt like shit. The band soon got back together––as documented on their "Live From Asbury Park" album recorded over the course of two December 2019 shows.

In the interceding years, Aaron is forced to finally tend to the wounds he’s ignored for over a decade, and that brings us to "In Lieu of Flowers". It's a triumphant kind of melancholy that colors this entire record message is driven home thanks to the 16-piece band that helped bring it to life with guitar, accordion, keys, banjo, pedal steel, trumpets, trombone, saxophone, cello, and violin.