“Fucked Up Life”

Fellow Travelers is on its way, arriving November 26, 2013. Today the excellent UK-based music site The Quietus premiered the second single, our version of the The Baptist Generals‘ “Fucked Up Life”. It’s my favorite of their many excellent songs, and it closes the record. I used to see them perform it in Austin years ago, and it moved me every time. This version features musical contributions from Clinic, our favorite Liverpudlian four-piece, whose song “Tomorrow” also appears on the album. (You’ll know them when you hear them.)

We’ve also just finished filming a video for first single “I Luv the Valley OH!”, art-directed by Kahn and Selesnick and directed by my old friend Branan Edgens. I couldn’t see everything that was going on during the filming, due to the space suit and the 40-pound oxygen tank slung around my neck, but it was as cool, foggy, and mysterious in that giant cave as it was hot and blindingly bright on those dunes. You’ll have to infer the story for now; the image above is just a taste. Watch for it before FT gets loose.

Here’s the final tracklist for Fellow Travelers, in case you missed it, plus the original artist for each song:

1. Our Only Sun [from “Deeper Devastation”] – Jesca Hoop
2. I Luv the Valley OH!! – Xiu Xiu
3. Hurts Like Heaven – Coldplay
4. Natural One – Folk Implosion
5. Ambiguity – David Thomas Broughton
6. Cheerleader – St. Vincent
7. Tomorrow – Clinic
8. A Wake for the Minotaur (ft. Sharon Van Etten)
9. Mary Is Mary – Wye Oak
10. Fucked Up Life – The Baptist Generals

Preorders from Sub Pop come with a special 7″ (inc. download code) featuring two covers that didn’t make the album. If you’re thinking of buying the record, I strongly recommend you get this pre-order version. I’m not allowed to reveal what the two extra songs are yet (though I think they’ll put a smile on your face), but be assured that they aren’t demos or also-rans; they’re big, fully-produced songs, and I’m as proud of them as I am any of the songs on the official album. I’ll leave it to you to decide if we should have put them on there.

Plus, if you preorder the vinyl LP, you’re guaranteed the colored-vinyl Loser Edition. (Your local indie record store may also be able to offer these bonuses, but you should probably make sure.)

You may have seen a little introduction to the record back in March that touched on the ideas and collaborations behind the new record. Fellow Travelers will also contain a print-only essay I wrote about touring and touring life, in a beautifully printed booklet designed by Sub Pop’s Jeff Kleinsmith.

In other news, we’ve already done about a month of recording for a new LP of originals, and it’s shaping up into something strange, new, and exciting. For the latest news and photos from the studio, from the return of our old friend Howard Draper to torturing sounds with Brian Reitzell’s Infernal Machine, give our Facebook page or Twitter feed a look from time to time. (JM)