While New York's Nada Surf self-released their covers-laden If I Had a Hi Fi LP just last year, it's been quite some time since the "Popular" rockers dropped a disc of originals. Hoping to rectify the situation, the long-running group have just announced their next full-length, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy.
Barsuk Records will deliver the proper follow-up to 2008's Lucky on January 24. According to the press release, the new record bristles with the band's familiar pop hooks and "trademark genius bridges," but the energy is supposedly cranked up tenfold. The goal, apparently, was to capture the troupe's live sound.
"We've always played faster and a little harder live," band leader Matthew Caws said in a statement, "but we'd play so carefully in the studio. So with this album, we made a conscious decision to preserve what it felt like in the practice room, when you play with that new-song energy. Just embrace it and not worry whether we're overdoing it, kind of get all the thinking out of the way."
The album was tracked by producer Chris Shaw (Wilco, Super Furry Animals) in the group's New York practice space. The raw recording found the outfit's core trio of Caws, bassist Daniel Lorca and drummer Ira Elliot, as well as longtime live member Doug Gillard, delivering ecstatic pop rock bursts like "When I Was Young," which you can download below. Speaking of the sessions, Caws admitted the extra energy found him more focused on the band than his personal demons.
"Making this album was such a joy, the most fun we've had with a record," Caws continued. "For many years I'd only write if I had something troubling going on in my life and I needed to break through, but now I wanted to get past writing about just myself. That new outlook, for me, is the engine for making this record."
A tracklist has yet to be revealed but you can see the album cover above.
Barsuk Records will deliver the proper follow-up to 2008's Lucky on January 24. According to the press release, the new record bristles with the band's familiar pop hooks and "trademark genius bridges," but the energy is supposedly cranked up tenfold. The goal, apparently, was to capture the troupe's live sound.
"We've always played faster and a little harder live," band leader Matthew Caws said in a statement, "but we'd play so carefully in the studio. So with this album, we made a conscious decision to preserve what it felt like in the practice room, when you play with that new-song energy. Just embrace it and not worry whether we're overdoing it, kind of get all the thinking out of the way."
The album was tracked by producer Chris Shaw (Wilco, Super Furry Animals) in the group's New York practice space. The raw recording found the outfit's core trio of Caws, bassist Daniel Lorca and drummer Ira Elliot, as well as longtime live member Doug Gillard, delivering ecstatic pop rock bursts like "When I Was Young," which you can download below. Speaking of the sessions, Caws admitted the extra energy found him more focused on the band than his personal demons.
"Making this album was such a joy, the most fun we've had with a record," Caws continued. "For many years I'd only write if I had something troubling going on in my life and I needed to break through, but now I wanted to get past writing about just myself. That new outlook, for me, is the engine for making this record."
A tracklist has yet to be revealed but you can see the album cover above.
