The singer-songwriter’s third album explores regret, healing, and self-discovery.
Del Water Gap is preparing to release his third studio album Chasing the Chimera, out November 7, marking a new chapter in the singer-songwriter’s search for meaning and clarity.
Known for his early collaborations with Maggie Rogers, DWG has since built a world of his own, balancing intimacy and reflection across three records.
His upcoming release follows 2023’s I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet and will feature the already released singles How to Live and Marigolds.
On Instagram, Del Water Gap – the project of Samuel Holden Jaffe – described the album as a reflection of where he’s been over the past year.
“This is where I’ve been the last year & it’s been healing my cynical heart, and I hope you’ll find a place for these songs,” he wrote.
Marigolds, which dropped last week, arrived with a deeply personal story.
“This song is about regret & apology as an obsessional mantra,” Jaffe explained.
Written in the aftermath of the LA fires, the track emerged from a night spent hiding out with a close friend, cooking, smoking, and talking while flames burned in the distance.
“The dissonance between the world inside and the chaos out there,” he said, left him with a “nostalgic hangover” where “everything feels too late and too early all at once.”
Chasing the Chimera was co-produced with Gabe Goodman, who also worked on Del Water Gap’s self-titled 2021 debut, and Jonathan Wilson.
Jaffe praised the collaborative process, telling Rolling Stone, “There was a moment when I realized being a great collaborator – and I think the same is true of being a good friend, or being a good partner – can be about the empty space that you leave, stepping out of the way for someone to let them come down and arrive in their own time.”
The 12-track record includes titles like Small Town Joan of Arc, Eastside Girls, and Ghost in the Uniform.
With themes of morality, validation, and self-perception woven through, Chasing the Chimera promises to be one of Del Water Gap’s most introspective projects yet.
