After releasing a new song last month, the Decemberists have returned today with news of their first album in six years. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again comes out June 14 via Yabb Records. The band has also shared the new song “Joan in the Garden,” a 19-minute prog epic on par with the Decemberists’ early material. Check it out below.
As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again was co-produced by Tucker Martine—who’s produced records for Camera Obscura, Modest Mouse, and William Tyler—and the band’s own Colin Meloy. It also includes last month’s single “Burial Ground,” featuring the Shins’ James Mercer, one of two guests on the album, alongside R.E.M.’s Mike Mills. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again is the Decemberists’ ninth studio album and follows the 2018 full-length I’ll Be Your Girl.
Next month, the Decemberists kick off their North American tour where you bet they’ll play songs from their new album. It begins on April 30 in Kingston, New York, and keeps them on the road through summer. Opening every show are Chicago indie rock group Ratboys, and, one date—Bend, Oregon, on July 12—will see the Head and the Heart joining as support.
Read about the Decemberists’ Picaresque at No. 34 on “The 50 Best Indie Rock Albums of the Pacific Northwest.”
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As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again:
01 Burial Ground
02 Oh No!
03 The Reapers
04 Long White Veil
05 William Fitzwilliam
06 Don’t Go to the Woods
07 The Black Maria
08 All I Want Is You
09 Born to the Morning
10 America Made Me
11 Tell Me What’s on Your Mind
12 Never Satisfied
13 Joan in the Garden
