One of our all-time favorite “indie artists,” Okkervil River, will release a new album entitled Away in September on ATO.  Per leader Will Sheff’s press release, the album embodies a traumatic, transitional period for Sheff, which entailed the loss of his grandfather and various band member changes. “I wrote the songs during a confusing time of transition in my personal and professional life and recorded them quickly with a brand new group of musicians,” said Sheff.  Sheff continues: “2013-2015 has been a strange time for me. I lost some connections in a music industry that was visibly falling apart. Some members of the Okkervil River backing band left, moving on to family life or to their own projects. I spent a good deal of time sitting in hospice with my grandfather, who was my idol, while he died. I didn’t know where I belonged. Eventually, I realized I was writing a death story for a part of my life that had, buried inside of it, a path I could follow that might let me go somewhere new.”

The album will consist of nine songs (listed below) that were apparently written over a three-day, fever-dream period at an empty house in the Catskills and subsequently recorded in a Long Island studio. Sheff was assisted by the likes of Marissa Nadler, composer/arranger Nathan Thatcher, former Okkervil River (and now Shearwater) member Jonathan Meiburg, and classical troupe yMusic.

To get a feel, check out the elegiac and emotion-filled album-opening track Okkervil River R.I.P. below. It’s a fantastic, form-fitting song that builds and flies away during its nearly seven-minutes, and bodes incredibly well for the new album. “They had some great songs, must have been a great time so long ago.” Thankfully, those times aren’t over for Okkervil River.

Okkervil River will kick off a tour on June 30th in Austin, TX, in support of (and ahead of) the new album.  Check the dates below.

Away Songlist:

1 Okkervil River R.I.P.
2 Call Yourself Renee
3 The Industry
4 Comes Indiana Through The Smoke
5 Judey On A Street
6 She Would Look For Me
7 Mary On A Wave
8 Frontman In Heaven
9 Days Spent Floating (In The Halfbetween)

Okkervil River Tour Dates:

06-30 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q %
07-01 Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory %
07-02 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall %
07-03 San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theater in San Antonio %
07-14 Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
07-15 Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace
07-16 Hudson, NY – Club Helsinki
07-17 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
07-20 Brooklyn, NY – National Sawdust
09-14 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair *
09-15 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair *
09-16 Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
09-19 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club *
09-20 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
09-21 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West at King Plow Arts Center *
09-23 Memphis, TN – 1884 Lounge *
09-24 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks *
09-30 Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom *
10-01 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern *
10-04 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
10-05 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
10-07 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom *
10-08 Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre *
10-10 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
10-11 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater *
10-13 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Café *
10-14 Chicago, IL – Metro #
10-15 Ferndale, MI – The Magic Bag ^
10-16 Millvale, PA – Mr. Small’s Theatre ^
10-18 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer ^
10-30 Oslo, Norway – Parkteatret
10-31 Gothenburg, Sweden – Pustervik
11-02 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser Strand
11-03 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
11-04 Weissenhauser Strand, Germany – Rolling Stone Weekender
11-05 Amsterdam, Holland – Paradiso Nord
11-07 Paris, France – Petit Bain
11-08 Brussels, Belgium – Botanique Rotonde
11-10 London, England – Islington Assembly Hall
11-11 Bristol, England – Thekla
11-12 Manchester, England – Gorilla
11-13 Glasgow, Scotland – Stereo

* with Landlady
# with Lip Talk
^ with Landlady & Lip Talk
% with Shovels & Rope, Matt Vasquez, and Girl In A Coma