Jon Chesbro embraces the end of days with the psychedelic ‘One Last Dance’
Maine multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer dances through our human extinction with a psych-pop flair.
NOW PLAYING: Listen to ‘One Last Dance’ on Spotify x Bandcamp
New track follows self-reflective spring single ‘Choices’
Listen to ‘Choices’ on Spotify
PORTLAND, Maine [August 1, 2025] – When the world finally comes to an end, through some sort of mass extinction-level event, how will we spend our final moments? And when it’s time to close our eyes and let the sweet release of death cast over our soon-to-be-eviscerated bodies, whether through a nuclear blast or rogue tidal wave or some other quick-but-horrific grand finale, will each of us go out feeling content with the life we lived?
Those questions swirl around Jon Chesbro’s sweeping new single “One Last Dance,” set for streaming release on Friday, August 1. The follow-up to May’s star-gazing and celestial “Choices,” the latest from the Maine songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist is a psych-pop headtrip that not only anticipates society’s sudden end, but tries to position us to where we actually embrace the catastrophic event through a contemplative sense of calm.
Where “Choices” lyrically explored the decisions we’ve made in our lives that helped shape who we are, for better or worse, “One Last Dance” fast-forwards to the end. And like any quest for salvation, be it sonic or spiritual or otherwise, Chesbro, the Phoenix Remix’s Artist of the Month for May, is reflecting on the past in order to embrace the present.
“This song is about the final moment you have before the world ends,” he says, fairly matter-of-factly. “You find yourself working for a job you hate, paying taxes for stuff you don’t want, and you really don't ever enjoy yourself or your relationships. You're too busy trying to be something you're not. Right when you see the final nuclear blast you realize you have ‘One Last Dance’ with the one you love. You take in that moment and savor it – and that’s the last thing you feel before being erased from the Earth.”
This is not the first time Chesbro, a Massachusetts native now living just outside of Portland in The Pine Tree State, has explored the end of the world in his music. His February 2024 album Dryas – released in what feels like a lifetime ago – was titled after a cataclysmic extinction event called the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt climate change that occurred roughly 12,900 years ago that wiped out all life on the planet.
These days, the world is a bit more populated – and so is Chesbro’s creative circle. Where Dryas was essentially a solo album that delved into more experimental and electronic sounds, leaning in on atmospheric tension and rhythms to create a moody, beat-driven world, crafted at his own personal Ebb N Flow recording studio, Chesbro’s latest releases find him leaning into his inner singer-songwriter, crafting more traditional compositions in the realm of indie rock, alternative, and psych with a loose network of collaborators.
The music and lyrics of “One Last Dance” were written by Chesbro, who co-produced the track alongside Don Schweihofer. It was recorded by Todd Harris and Jonathan Chesbro at Berlin Audio Productions in Massachusetts, and mixed and mastered by Erik Von Geldern.
“I’m definitely diving more and more into the singer-songwriter sound,” Chesbro admits. “I like it. It comes with challenges. Instrumental music is a little easier for me to make, so I kind of like the challenge this brings me. ‘One Last Dance’ started on acoustic guitar, the initial chords and riff. The guitar solo was a process because I don't usually write solos but this time I did and added some harmonies with it.”
A supernal track that is crystalline in its focus, as Chesbro laments the end of days with his voice growing weary by what he sees around him just before the event hits, a searing guitar solo from the artist takes the track right up to the heavens it beckons. Chesbro provides guitar, vocals, and synth on the song, with familiar co-conspirators Robert Countie on bass guitar, Akiba Davis on keys, and Schweihofer on drums.
And like “Choices,” “One Last Dance” will be featured on an upcoming full-length album, due either later this year or at some point in 2026 – if we’re all still around by then, of course.
“It’s going to be a banger,” he says of the forthcoming album, “with songs that will make you cry and songs that will rock your socks off. I feel like my job as an artist is to make people feel something real and not AI-generated. So if any emotion is sparked, really, I consider that a win.”
But in terms of timelines, Chesbro is content with just letting things play out, and allow the songwriting and production to come naturally without any self-imposed deadline or creatively-stifling goals. Both songs are his lone offers so far this year after a fairly prolific 2024 that saw him release the aforementioned, mostly instrumental album Dryas (February); a tribute to Andre 3000 in one-off Bandcamp release “For Andre” (March); glistening summer guitar-pop single “Always & Forever” (June); and expansive indie-pop EP Outta State Outta Mind (November).
On the EP, Chesbro’s personal travels and nomadic residency manifested in an array of songs relating to personal experiences in places like Arizona, Missouri, and Massachusetts. But where Outta State Outta Mind was a bit of a study of the things, people, and places around him, these new songs explore more personal territories, allowing him to extract certain emotions that may or may not have been clawing at his brain in the past.
Part of that may be due to the fact that he now resides in Maine, taking in what the rest of the country has to offer, coming to terms with his upbringing on Massachusetts’ North Shore as a Salem native, and settling in out in the expansive, natural landscape of northern New England.
“I feel like just being able to take a breath and not worry about anyone near me has been nice,” he offers. “Close to nature, therefore closer to myself. Getting away from crowded cities has been rather relaxing and good for my overall mental health.”
It certainly has allowed Chesbro freedom to explore not only a certain type of sound in his music, but also very pointed and poignant lyrical themes that both reflect the emotions of the day, and showcase his growing disdain for how we, as a society, have come to act towards each other.
“I feel like all the bullshit in the world really drags us down,” he concludes. “I'm a glass-half-full-kind of guy and I try not to let the media and news shape how I feel about my life. This song is kind of saying if the world ended tomorrow would all the chaos and division in our country be worth it? Instead of fighting with your relatives, you might realize in your final moments that you wasted time fighting when you could have been building or collaborating on something bigger than just your political views or personal feelings.”
By the time we usually think of these things, it’s too late.
Appearing on ‘One Last Dance’:
Jon Chesbro: Guitar, vocals, synth
Robert Countie: Bass guitar
Akiba Davis: Keys
Don Schweihofer: Drums
‘One Last Dance’ production credits:
Music and lyrics by Jon Chesbro
Produced by Jonathan Chesbro and Don Schweihofer
Recorded by Todd Harris and Jonathan Chesbro at Berlin Audio Productions
Mixed and mastered by Erik Von Geldern
Photos by PostFix Media / Zach Haberern
All rights reserved
‘One Last Dance’ single artwork:
Photo by PostFix Media / Zach Haberern; design by Jon Chesbro
Media praise for Jon Chesbro:
“The latest from Jon Chesbro is a tough one to define. ‘Choices’ sits squarely in the singer-songwriter genre, but it also sends little tendrils out into other genres as well. The song sees the Maine based musician mostly venturing into a psychedelic territory, but not in a 60's or even slightly hippie style. This is a purely modern slice of psychedelia that includes electronic elements that include vocal effects, but more in the way that The Beatles used them... so I guess there are some references to the 60's going on here. "Choices" is a surprisingly epic song that completely flips the singer-songwriter genre into something that is going to take multiple listens to fully appreciate since there is a lot going on in this one.” _If It’s Too Loud
“A psych-pop head trip” _Click Roll Boom
“‘Choices’ has a little bit of a Beatles vibe , mixed in with a pinch of Elliott Smith. However, it is the one of a kind style and sound of Jon Chesbro that makes ‘Choices’ an absolutely beautiful musical composition.” _The Whole Kameese
“This is quite an interesting album [Dryas] and takes you on quite a trip when you're in the mood for something different.” _Steel Notes Magazine
“The trip that Dryas took us on was such a wild and wonderful one that we couldn’t imagine not reviewing it.” _Rock And Roll Fables
“Brilliantly crafted.”_The Whole Kameese
“A country of emotion…” _Click Roll Boom
“The five songs on Outta State Outta Mind are an interesting mixture of 90's singer-songwriter alt-rock and modern Americana. In 2024 I recognize the country/roots sound in a song like ‘Against the Crowd,’ but I certainly wouldn't have thirty years ago. It's a collection of laid back songs that bridge the gap between the worlds of indie rock and jam bands, much like My Morning Jacket or Wilco can. Chesbro also has a unique way of crafting a song. There's a certain DIY and punk edge to his songs even despite how laid back the entire EP is. Outta State Outta Mind is well worth your time and is one of the more compelling mainstream-ish singer-songwriter releases of the year.” _If It’s Too Loud
“There was much to enjoy on the Outta State Outta Mind five tracker and although there was a kind of simplicity about the numbers shared they certainly drew me in and had me humming them, long after the EP was finished.” _Maximum Volume Music
Jon Chesbro short bio:
Whether on stage or behind the mixing desk, Jon Chesbro invites audiences into a world where every note is a brushstroke on the canvas of emotion. The Maine multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer released new album Dryas in February 2024, and the experimental, electronic, and mostly instrumental record is a departure from his work as Cosmic Vultures guitarist, showcasing a new complexity and depth in his solo musical compositions. Dryas can be consumed as a whole or in chapters, and a pair of visualizers, ‘MarchToVictory’ (featuring Derek Smith) and ‘Into The Mirror’, precede the album. He followed that up with a new guitar-pop single called “Always & Forever” that summer, leading up to new EP Outta State Outta Mind set for release in November 2024. His first music of 2025, “Choices,” arrived in May, followed by “One Last Dance” in August.
