Evan Dando, now sober except for LSD, reveals memoir release date and hints at a new Lemonheads album

Evan Dando Reveals Sobriety

Evan Dando has disclosed that he is now sober, except for LSD, while also confirming the release date of his forthcoming memoir and teasing new music from The Lemonheads.

Upcoming Memoir and New Music

The Lemonheads’ singer and frontman is set to publish his long-delayed book Rumors of My Demise on May 1, a project he first announced back in 2020. Reserve your copy here through Blackwell’s.

In a recent interview with the Independent, Dando confirmed the release date and shared that he has abstained from street drugs for the past two years. The 57-year-old attributed this shift to his move to Brazil and his engagement.

However, he feels that acid doesn’t belong in the same category as other illegal substances. “I think acid is okay,” Dando noted, sharing that he has experimented with Polish LSD while in Brazil.

He also admitted to having deceived doctors in order to obtain ADHD medication without having a related disorder.

Additionally, Dando revealed that he is nearing completion of a new Lemonheads album titled “Love Chant.” He described the record as “really psychedelic and heavy, then quiet, and it’s all original,” serving as the follow-up to the band’s 2019 album Varshons 2, their tenth full-length release.

Looking ahead, Dando stated: “I know I’m a good person and whatever happens to me is okay. I’m kind of very calm.”

Elsewhere, the article mentioned that the musician had been using substantial drugs even before The Lemonheads formed in 1986.

“I used as many as I could find,” Dando reminisced. “We had a good coke dealer at school.” He also recalled being tempted to try heroin due to figures like Keith Richards and William Burroughs.

“I was really hurt by my parents’ divorce (when he was 10),” he reflected. “This was before puberty. I never saw my father during puberty, which I would say threw me off a bit. I was trying to seek what I didn’t get from my father from people in general when The Lemonheads became famous, which was definitely dangerous.”

The Lemonheads released two singles in late 2023 and early 2024: “Fear Of Living” and “Seven Out” respectively. Dando also discussed the band’s upcoming album in an interview with Cinema Chords last month, revealing that “Love Chant” is slated for release sometime in 2025.

“There will also be a song called Fear of Living on the album,” he mentioned. “We have 12 songs, and I did one more demo so it doesn’t feel misused. I spent about a year and a half working on it, playing all the drums and everything to make sure the band wouldn’t play too raw.”

He added: “I brought my band to Brazil and recorded in a studio run by a guy named Roy Cicala, who worked on John Lennon records, so we have something akin to the condenser from “Imagine.” We’ve used amazing equipment, and the sound is incredible.”

The official synopsis for Rumors of My Demise notes: “After Kurt Cobain passed away in 1994, everyone expected Evan Dando to be next. Rising to fame in the ’90s as the frontman of The Lemonheads, he was notorious for his decadent lifestyle, from excessive drug use and partying with Keith Richards and Kate Moss to sleeping on punk-era floors and crashing at Johnny Depp’s house in Hollywood. Yet, despite the persistent rumors, he has lived to share his story.

“After decades of the press trying to pigeonhole him, Rumors of My Demise allows Dando to narrate his own life, recapturing the spirit of his early days. This honest autobiography presents a portrait of an artist dedicated to his music, unapologetically.”

In 2023, Noel Gallagher revealed an unreleased collaboration with Dando that sparked a feud between the two singer-songwriters. Gallagher mentioned that the song, titled “Purple Parallelogram,” was conceived at the height of Oasis’ fame in the 90s.