As John Darnielle’s restlessness persists, the Mountain Goats will release their 23rd studio album, Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan, on November 7. And, for the first time since 2009, the band is working with an entity other than Merge Records, moving over to their own label Cadmean Dawn. Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan is the first Mountain Goats LP since longtime bassist Peter Hughes left the group, and the project is dedicated to him. Multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas produced the album, and bass parts were supplied by Cameron Ralston.
Ralston isn’t the only new, unofficial addition to the Mountain Goats. Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson is here, as are harpist Mikaela Davis, Bonny Light Horseman’s Josh Kaufman, and Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Yes, you read that right. He sings backup on four of the new songs, including today’s lead single, “Armies of the Lord.” The concept of Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan is the story of a “small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three surviving members—an unnamed narrator, Captain Peter Balkan, and Adam—are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions.”
“There were 16 men on a fishing boat, but only three survived the storm, and one of those went missing, and is presumed dead,” Darnielle says. “That leaves me and Peter Balkan, whose health is failing as his apocalyptic visions dissipate in the spray at the shore.”
“In the night of May 29, 2023, I had a dream. Waking from it, I transcribed what I could remember of it into the note-taking app I keep on my phone. The note reads: “through this fire across from peter balkan #dream. It was the title of a work, not sure which form.” The next time I sat at the piano to see if I had ideas, I got the notion of writing a work that proceeded from its title, and that tried to make real the dreamlike grammar of that title. This album is that work. Since its protagonist shares a first name with our longstanding bassist Peter Hughes, who bid farewell to the sea in 2024, this album is dedicated to him—he who served aboard the good ship Mountain Goats for so many years: may the fire always keep you warm, and may your nights in its light be as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach.”
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