Switchfoot on 20 years of The Beautiful Letdown

It’s been a big year for anniversaries: anniversary tours, reissued albums, social media posts with carousels of archive footage featuring artists in their teenage years, goofing off in a studio. It can be sentimental, a moment shared between fans and musicians, a reflection of the years they’ve spent growing up side-by-side, tied together by the brute emotional force of well-composed songs and nostalgia. However, for San Diego’s Switchfoot, they weren’t going to let an anniversary be just that — a moment to pass as soon as its time had slipped away, overshadowed by whichever “throwback” post us average music enjoyers would obsess over tomorrow. This anniversary, namely, the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed album The Beautiful Letdown, would be a celebration, and a moment in its own right as major as its initial release. 

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A Christian band at heart, the 2003 album was their break, and more — it shattered whatever ceiling alt-rockers had constructed to shelter them from music that swayed too “spiritual.” Twenty years later, they’re giving it new life with The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) [Deluxe Edition], a 25-track celebration of‘ their staple record, featuring newly recorded tracks from iconic Switchfoot fans, the Jonas Brothers, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Jon Bellion, Ingrid Andress, twenty one pilots’ Tyler Joseph, Owl City, Dayglow, and more, in addition to Switchfoot’s re-recorded version of the album and new, unreleased B-sides. 

We spoke with the band about finding creative solace in their hometown of San Diego, joining forces with the Jonas Brothers, and how the sentiment of the album’s title still holds true, all these years later.

How is it going back into this album? What did it bring up for you?

My first thought is gratitude. I’m so thankful to be looking back on the journey that we’ve been on for the past 20 years. So thankful for everyone around the world who’s been singing these songs with us. Diving back into this album brings up a lot of memories for me. The story of The Beautiful Letdown is pretty funny, looking back. At the time, it wasn’t funny at all: We got dropped by our label before the album ever came out. 

It was a turning point for us as a band. We believed in this album, and in spite of anyone else’s opinion, we were going to fight for this album. So we put the songs out on a smaller label, RED — a label that believed in us and fought for us. We rented three cars in Florida and started playing as many shows as we could, on the way to get back home to California. It was a horrible plan. But somewhere along that tour, something magical started to happen... People started resonating with the album, burning CDs, singing along, and telling their friends. Shows started getting bigger, and one of our songs was even getting played on the radio. 

I’m thankful for all of it, even getting dropped. Because the music was connecting with people in a simple and profound way that only music can, rather than succeeding because of a huge record label or a huge budget. And that’s where the idea for this album came from: The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) [Deluxe] is our way to say thanks to all of the amazing people who have given us the privilege of this wild journey that we’ve been on. Even 20 years later, the album’s title holds true: What a beautiful letdown indeed. 

What are some standout memories of making this album in 2003?

The album happened so fast. I remember meeting John Fields, the producer of the album, a week or two before we started tracking. We borrowed amps from our friend Matt Beckley, borrowed a few drums from our friend Aaron Redfield, and set off for LA in a Cadillac that we borrowed from Chad [Butler]’s grandfather. Fast forward to a few weeks later, and the whole album was recorded and mixed. 

We were so young, but we had clear goals. A lot happened in that short span of time. I suppose among the more memorable experiences of the album were accidentally barging into a Radiohead session, and an impromptu visit with Courtney Love. 

What has been the highlight of the anniversary experience?

Connection is near the top of the list as to why I make music — and this tour and album have been full of just that. So many amazing conversations, community, strangers arm in arm singing one song, watching music bring people together. My favorite thing is when I put down the mic and the song continues. The deluxe version of the album and the tour have been exactly that.

Obviously, it’s a very deep album — what still feels on-the-nose for you in those lyrics, and conversely, what has shifted in how you write/record/and see the world since the first recording, and how did you transmit those shifts and growth into the re-recorded project? 

Some things are constant. For example, my favorite lyrics and songs are still the ones that are born from pain and curiosity. I still see the song as a vessel to get from darkness to light. So that remains the same, even all these years later. Most of the lyrics still resonate deeply within me. Some of the lyrics might even mean more to me now than they did back then. For example, “We want more than the wars of our fathers” [from “Meant To Live”]. That lyric hits different in 2023 than when I wrote it.

And yet, so much has changed since 2003. The world is a different place. I’m a different person. We make music differently now: in our own studio in San Diego, rather than in a studio in LA. 

We toyed around with reinventing the songs, but then we figured the deluxe version of this album would do that. 

Instead, we approached this project as if it were our very own time machine. We wanted to enjoy the process, like solving a riddle or a murder mystery. We were stepping twice into the same river with older feet than before. We were very aware of the strange quest we were undertaking, a record filled with the laughter of irony and gratitude. I mean, who gets the chance to do this sort of thing? To recreate an album from scratch? We wanted this album to be a love letter to everyone who’s supported us for the past 20 years.

How did each of the features on this album come to be? What was your experience like working with the Jonas Brothers? 

The whole thing happened pretty organically. I sent a text out to Tyler [Joseph] from twenty one pilots, Jon Bellion, and a few others. I knew that this record was meaningful to a few folks, but I wasn’t sure that anyone would have time for this sort of thing. The response we got back was overwhelming: lots of old friends and new ones putting their hand up to sing these songs. What an honor to have such amazing voices jumping in on an album like this. Musical heroes!

Stylistically, we handled this collection of songs very loosely, giving complete control to the artist with very little musical direction. We figured, “We’ve already recorded this album twice.” So we wanted this collection of songs to reflect the heartbeat of the artist involved. I remember when Joe Jonas said he wanted John Fields involved to produce their track, “The Beautiful Letdown.” I loved the idea. John is incredible. He created the original album and is a truly amazing friend of mine.

So I gave him a call. He picked up thinking this was going to be an A&R conversation about musical direction. He was bracing himself for an awkward chat where I told him what to do and what not to do. I just laughed and said, “No, I just wanted to say hi!” It was an amazing experience hearing these songs sung back to us. So much love and respect for everyone involved.