Miles Hewitt is an artist who approaches songwriting with the precision of a poet. A Harvard-educated musician, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter brings a unique, analytical perspective to his craft, viewing lyrics as a delicate architecture where even the smallest punctuation can shift the meaning of a line. In his latest work, Hewitt explores the tension between human experience and the encroaching influence of technology, crafting a soundscape that feels both intimate and grand.
The Meaning Behind Vainglory
His new album, Vainglory, arrives on July 24, serving as a follow-up to his 2022 debut, Heartfall. While the title might suggest a personal ego, Hewitt clarifies that it is a critique of modern hubris. “It’s so Western colonial, so Enlightenment,” he explains. “It’s like Ecclesiastes — it’s vanity of vanities to believe that people have some kind of rare perspective, or rarefied power over the universe.” Beyond this sociopolitical commentary, the album also reflects his own torturous, rewarding artistic process as he sought to create something truly glorious.
A Sonic Search for Truth
Musically, Vainglory is a masterclass in atmosphere. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Nick Drake, Hewitt’s spectral folk-rock evokes a sense of haunted, desolate landscapes. The production process was a deliberate, iterative journey. Working with a rotating cast of talented musicians from bands like Destroyer and Cass McCombs, Hewitt pushed for multiple versions of songs until they captured the specific emotional truth he was chasing. “For me, what makes an album really special isn’t just that it’s good or that it sounds good, but it has that feeling to it,” he notes.
The resulting record functions as a song cycle, where each track is in dialogue with the next. Hewitt admits that while writing, he often adopted a “bird’s-eye view,” looking down at a world grappling with the dehumanizing effects of data and quantification. “It’s seeking something beyond the barbarity and materialism of the world that we’re living in right now,” he says. Ultimately, Vainglory stands as a testament to his commitment to finding meaning in an increasingly fragmented reality, proving that even in the face of an “end of the world” scenario, there is still beauty to be found in the search.