After almost twenty years together, American indie-folk rockers The Mountain Goats have confirmed details of their new studio album Getting Into Knives, which is set for release on 23 October 2020.

The album is preceded by lead single As Many Candles As Possible, which is available now.

Getting Into Knives will be the band’s 19th studio album, and their second this year after lead singer John Darnielle, frustrated that The Mountain Goats were unable to tour as a result of the current Coronavirus pandemic, recorded ten tracks at his North Carolina home inspired by a possibly unlikely source: Pierre Chuvin’s 1990 book A Chronicle Of The Last Pagans.

The resulting collection of tracks was then released this spring under the title Songs For Pierre Chuvin. Its lo-fi sound is a throwback to much of the early work of the band, who gained a reputation for their home-recorded material during the early days of their career.

Writing on their official Facebook page, the band said: “On the first of March, 2020, John Darnielle, Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas, and Jon Wurster, aka The Mountain Goats band, visited legendary studio Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, TN. Darnielle armed his band with new songs and reunited with producer Matt Ross-Spang who engineered last year’s In League with Dragons.

“In the same room where the Cramps tracked their 1980 debut album, The Mountain Goats spent a week capturing the magic of a band at the top of its game. The result is Getting Into Knives, the perfect album for the millions of us who have spent many idle hours contemplating whether we ought to be honest with ourselves and just get massively into knives.”

Watch the official lyric video for As Many Candles As Possible here.

Getting Into Knives track list:

1. Corsican Mastiff Stride

2. Get Famous

3. Picture Of My Dress

4. As Many Candles As Possible

5. Tidal Wave

6. Pez Dorado

7. The Last Place I Saw You Alive

8. Bell Swamp Connection

 indie       folk 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.