The Mountain Goats are releasing their fourteenth album, Transcendental Youth, this fall. Originally a solo outlet for John Darnielle, tMG now features bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Bob Mould).
Transcendental Youth expands that lineup a bit further, at least temporarily. Darnielle asked multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett (who, besides his excellent solo work under his own name and Final Fantasy, has worked with Arcade Fire, Beirut and Fucked Up) to arrange strings and Matthew E. White to do horn arrangements.
White’s horns really open up the album’s first single, “Cry for Judas.” The Mountain Goats have come a long way from Darnielle’s Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox recordings, but they’re still every bit as good.
Transcendental Youth comes out October 2 via Merge. The first 1,000 pre-orders will include a bonus 7″, which features two exclusive tracks: “Steal Smoked Fish” and “In the Shadow of the Western Hills.”
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