Rockaway Releases "About Last Night," A Yacht Rock Refined for a New Generation

Larry Rifkin, the songwriter and creative force behind the music project Rockaway, has announced a new single, “About Last Night,” the latest release from his album Wrong Side of Love. From the first notes, the track settles into the kind of unhurried yet melodically assured pocket that adult contemporary and yacht rock built its reputation on in the 1970s, now filtered with a production sensibility that feels current. It’s warm without being sentimental and lyrically sharp. "I had lyrics for a song called 'About Last Night' sitting in my phone for years. The title felt right, but I never really felt I had the right attitude for it,” explained Rifkin. However, the premise is familiar: a night that got away from you, a morning full of unanswered questions, but Rockaway plays it cool rather than confessional, landing somewhere between a Steely Dan groove and a Kenny Loggins hook. Rifkin grew up on both artists, and the influence shows, though the song is entirely his own.

"I wanted something that captured a night you might want to forget or at least can't quite remember. I've barely been in a bar in my life, but sometimes the best songs come from exactly where you've never been," shared Rifkin.

 The polished, layered sound of "About Last Night" is the product of a creative process Rifkin has refined across three albums with his collaborator Alasdair MacKenzie, a Boston-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, audio engineer, and member of the acclaimed indie rock outfit Hush Club. 

The two have developed an intuitive workflow: Rifkin records keyboard and vocal demos, which MacKenzie transforms into fully realized arrangements, playing every instrument himself and using entirely organic, non-synthesized sounds.