Modest Mouse released its sixth album, Strangers to Ourselves, today, March 17. The effort is the band's first in eight years, following We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Fans can stream the new LP, which is out now, in its entirety on Spotify, Consequence of Sound noted.
Frontman Isaac Brock shed some light recently on why the album took so long to get made.
"Honest answer to whether I thought it would take eight years to make another Modest Mouse record? No. People in the band are having kids left and right," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I scored two movies which I didn't do overnight. I had other interests. I wanted to learn about mycelium. I spent a lot of time reading books and going out into the woods to learn about mushrooms."
A lot happened over the eight years for the band. Bassist Eric Judy left the group in 2012 and has yet to comment on why, according to Rolling Stone. Modest Mouse then recorded a few songs with former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. Brock sang the musician's praises, but decided not to use the material for Strangers to Ourselves -- they may be included on the follow-up, which is already in the works.
The group recorded with Big Boi as well, but those tracks were scrapped. James Mercer of The Shins and Dan Gallucci of Cold War Kids contributed to the LP as well.
"I'm absolutely terrified of making a half-assed record -- spending resources for three good songs and eight s****y ones," he told RS. "And the longer I waited to put it out, the more stressed I felt about giving people something that was worth the wait."
Reviews of the album have been positive so far. Listen to it below.
