Eastern Hymns for Western Shores is an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 of previously unreleased Switchfoot

Switchfoot

Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman , Tim Foreman , Chad Butler , Jerome Fontamillas , and Drew Shirley .After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream...

 songs. It was first available for purchase on the band's annual Holiday Package for 2010; it was announced that it would be included in the package and what the entire contents were on November 9, 2010.

The EP was released for individual purchase from Switchfoot.com on December 31, 2010.

History

Word of a possible lost EP of Switchfoot songs began circulating when fan websites received word from "inside sources" of a release called "Eastern Hymns for Western Shores".

Noted site Land of Broken Hearts posted this message on April 27, 2009:
No word came after that for almost an entire year, until drummer Chad Butler

Chad Butler

Chad Matthew Butler is the drummer for the band Switchfoot which he co-founded along with Jon and Tim Foreman in 1996...

 was asked about the release in January 2010. Butler admitted to being unclear of plans for the tunes, saying "I'm sure that'll come out maybe sometime this year. We'll see."

This was the last anyone heard of Eastern Hymns for Western Shores until the official announcement was sent out via email newsletter. In the email, Switchfoot revealed that the songs were recorded between the Nothing Is Sound

Nothing Is Sound

Nothing Is Sound is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 13, 2005, and début at number three on the Billboard 200. The first single from this album was "Stars," which was the number one most-added song on Modern Rock Radio, and received...

and Oh! Gravity.

Oh! Gravity.

Oh! Gravity. is the sixth album by the San Diego based alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on December 26, 2006.To give fans a preview of the new material, Switchfoot released the downloadable single "Dirty Second Hands" to major online music stores on September 26...

sessions. The masters for these songs were thought to have been lost or stolen for years until they were finally recovered, recorded and mixed within the same week. The band went on to describe that the six songs showcase a "darker and more mysterious sound for the band", and that they had gone "all out" on the packaging.

Track listing

1. "We Are Bound"
2. "Stitches"
3. "Daylight to Break"
4. "Overthrow"
5. "Dirty Second Hands
   Dirty Second Hands
   "Dirty Second Hands" is a song from Switchfoot's 6th studio album Oh! Gravity. This was the first song released from the album, made available for purchase online as a single. Despite this, the song was never released to radio....
   
   " (Original Recording - Eastern Hymns Sessions)
6. "Connect with the Spine"