Track-by-Track: Old Tom and The Lookouts Uncovers Perfervid Inspiration Behind ‘Northeastern’

Indie-Americana band Old Tom and the Lookouts released Northeastern, an album that delves deep into the gritty realities of life in the Northeast. With unflinching honesty, the band tackles themes of mental health, addiction, and the complex relationships shaped by the region’s rugged character. Drawing inspiration from artists like Zach Bryan and Counting Crows, Northeastern combines soulful storytelling with a melancholic, rock-infused energy that reflects the often harsh yet profoundly resilient spirit of the Northeast. Lead singer Alex Calabrese describes the album as a “love letter” to the region, capturing the essence of emotional survival in an environment where struggles are often faced in solitude.

The album’s lead single, “Your Town,” released on October 18, 2024, serves as a centrepiece, highlighting the theme of resilience that permeates Northeastern. Recorded and produced by Joe Dunn, the album introduces a grittier, rock-oriented sound while preserving the band’s folk roots. With emotionally charged performances, Calabrese and the band channel the rawness of Americana and indie rock to create a cathartic listening experience. Known for their powerful storytelling and evocative lyrics, Old Tom and the Lookouts have made a name for themselves in Boston and beyond following the success of the Just For Beasts album (2021), which critics lauded for its haunting beauty.

With the band taking bolder steps forward while staying true to their impassioned roots, Alex Calabrese of Old Tom and The Lookouts sat down with V13 for a Track-by-Track breakdown of the Northeastern album tracks.

1. 1981

Alex Calabrese: “I couldn’t have thought of a different song to start the record with. It levels us all the same as we’re all obliterated by change – whether that’s a relationship or some other struggle. There’s something grounding about finding some peace in the things you can’t control, that said, me and many of the folks who will read past the veneer of this song will tell you, we haven’t found it yet.”

2. Your Town

“I thought it would be a good idea to bring folks’ spirits back up with a song about the road, leaving home, and the search for adventure. Your Town examines not only the excitement of a musician leaving on tour, but the very hope that drives you to take your next steps in life. I wrote this song with my dear friend, Jessye DeSilva, in a hotel room in West Virginia while on tour, and honestly we just wanted to capture the optimism of touring – it’s such a hopeful thing to do.”

3. Side Door

“Side Door dives into mental illness exploring the constant push and pull of Bipolar. This song, with help from my friend, Madeline Finn, came together to express our exhaustion – mental illness is absolutely exhausting. Madeline and I put on our grown-up emo pants and wrote a sad song that ripped like The Get Up Kids – it’s got a drop and everything. We just dressed it up as an Americana song.”

4. Deaf (Last Five Years II)

“I played this song one time and a fellow songwriter asked if it was a letter to myself, and at the time I wasn’t sure what it was. It definitely felt like a lament. I knew it was inspired by observing how my partner and I had grown over the years – we had changed skins so many times since we got together. Then I realized that this was a letter to that which felt like it was controlling me, not people or medication, but culture. I was angry at how we lived in the Northeast. The more I played the song, the more folks would tell me they resonated with this helpless feeling of suffering quietly. Unfortunately, this is how we generally handle things in this region and it breaks my heart. I hope this song will help break some other folks out of their shell.”

5. Coyotes

“One evening I was out on my porch with my guitar and I heard a pack of coyotes losing their minds over something just past the treeline, so I wrote my first line. I just thought it was a cool line that drifted into poetry, and then all a sudden I was writing a song about the best years of my life. The song isn’t terribly deep or juxtaposed, just heavily influenced by my love for Counting Crows, drinking tea on my porch, and the terrifying sounds of nature.”

‘Northeastern’ Album Cover Art

6. Patterns

“Patterns is about loss and grieving. We lost a lot of musicians recently in the Boston music scene and I couldn’t help but feel like it was representative of a pattern. Many of these folks were victims of mental illness and addiction.”

7. Teeth

“This song is a love letter to my partner. We grow and change and have ups and downs and everything in between, and as a partner in love, you’re challenged to accept all of it. The song’s verses chronicle the relationship’s first spark and the lasting glow, while the choruses and bridge come to terms with the fact that things are not the way they were and there can be beauty and joy in that. There’s something so helpless about ‘Now the dogs sleep in the bed…’ and I love it. I wouldn’t change a thing. Even Gary from verse 2.”

8. Damnation

“In the Northeast, we have a lot of Catholicism. I grew up in a pretty strict Roman Catholic house and it was not great. I remember CCD followed by mass every Sunday and I hated it. I remember questioning my CCD teachers about contradictions in life and scripture and being deflected or silenced. My main question as stated in the song is, ‘Where do you go when you die?.’ How do we know? So this song is a little jab at my oldest sparring partner, the Catholic Church.”

9. Papers

“In the Northeast, we have a massive opioid crisis. I wrote this song as an ode to the friends I’ve lost to this crisis. The song doesn’t follow any specific friendship but pulls from several to create a heartbreaking narrative about a friend who is taken too soon by addiction.”

10. Northeastern

“I was trying to find a way to summarize the album and really call things into perspective, centering everything on this Northeastern culture piece. I think it’s important to address a problem when you see one, and suffering in silence and middling through because talking about your problems would be embarrassing is no way to live. I would love for mental health to take a front seat in Northeastern culture, but we’re a little ways from that. I couldn’t have closed the record with a different song. This song was just the perfect conclusion.”