The new album from The Mountain Goats is out on 4AD on 10/6 and it has the theme of religion! It’s called The Life Of The World To Come. Less a profession of religious faith than an immersion in Biblical poetry and imagery, the songs on The Life of the World to Come take their names from verses that informed or inspired them, or which, sometimes, came up against them at right angles.
The Life of the World to Come was recorded across three studios with three producers, from April through June of 2009: with Brandon Eggleston at Chicago’s Electrical Audio; with John Congleton at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas; and with Scott Solter at Baucom Road in Monroe, North Carolina. Owen Pallet (aka Final Fantasy), with whom the band shared a stage in Australia this past January at the Meredith Music Festival, arranged & played strings. The songs find John playing piano more than he has in the recent past, although it’s the only instrument on which he has any formal training. As of press time, no members of the Mountain Goats had joined up with the Vineyard Fellowship, but do watch this space: there are stranger things in Heaven & earth, et cetera.
Tour Dates
November
4 – Ladies Literary Club (Calvin College), Grand Rapids, MI
5 – the Metro, Chicago, IL
6 – High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
7 – Cedar Cultural Centre, Minneapolis, MN
10 – the Showbox, Seattle, WA
11 – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
14 – the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
15 – Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, CA
18 – Antones, Austin, TX
19 – Granada Theater, Dallas TX
20 – Mercy Lounge, Nashville TN
21 – the Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
23 – the Social, Orlando, FL
24 – Café 11, St. Augustine, FL
27 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
28 – Theater of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
29 – Wilbur Theatre, Boston MA
December
1 – Webster Hall, New York, NY
2 – Bell House, Brooklyn, NY
