Dead Man's Bones, the Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields duo, returns with Lost In The Night

The first new music since the debut

Dead Man's Bones has made its first new music since its self-titled first album was released in 2009, and fans of Ryan Gosling's side life as a musician are the ones who get it ^[1]. The duo, Gosling and Zach Shields, returns with the new single Lost In The Night ^[1]. It is released via ANTI- Records ^[1].

The band's Instagram first teased new music on October 22 ^[2]. Gosling's partner Eva Mendes had also been teasing new music from Gosling and Shields on social media ^[3].

One day, one farm, six instruments

The duo tried several Los Angeles studios without finding the sound they wanted ^[1]. They then took two guitars, two drum machines, and two synthesizers to a farm outside the city to record the song ^[1]. The song was recorded in one day ^[1].

It was produced with longtime collaborator Tim Anderson ^[1]. The song is described as a shadowy but undeniably hopeful homemade anthem that hints at a new direction for the duo ^[1].

The video leaves the cemetery

The song is accompanied by a music video starring Noah Jupe and Rain Spencer ^[1]. It follows the pair as they leave the cemetery and venture into the lamplit streets of the city ^[1].

Along the way, the video moves from the world of the dead to a romantic adventure through the world of the living ^[1].

How we got here

The debut created a sound that was eerie, playful, nostalgic and heartfelt, evoking old horror films, forgotten Halloween records and ghostly American folklore ^[1]. Rolling Stone described the band in 2009 as Arcade Fire, Tom Waits and the cast of Sesame Street performing a Kurt Weill musical ^[3]. The band drew inspiration from Disney's Haunted Mansion ride and the Langley Schools Music Project's Innocence and Despair, a cult Seventies LP ^[3].

The album was made in collaboration with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir, and it was the duo's first and only album ^[2]. Shields said the vocals were originally written for the children's choir to sing and the band had never planned to sing on the record ^[3].

Why the band went quiet

After the album, the band apparently ceased to exist soon after, despite well-deserved buzz for the LP ^[3]. Gosling became a bigger Hollywood star with a demanding production schedule ^[3]. The circumstances that formed the duo also changed: at the time Gosling was dating Rachel McAdams, whose sister was dating Shields ^[3].

The afterlife of the music

Cat Power covered the duo's Pa Pa Power in 2021 ^[3]. The duo's music has occasionally appeared in movies and TV series, especially after Gosling's Best Original Song nomination for I'm Just Ken from Barbie ^[3].

Shields, meanwhile, is writing the script for the Gladys prequel film to Weapons (2025) with Zach Cregger ^[2].