Prolific indie quartet Mountain Goats have shared the song “Mobile” — described by frontman John Darnielle as the “weathered, gnarlier cousin to ‘Getting Into Knives’” — from their upcoming Dark in Here album, which is out June 25 on Merge Records.
Dark in Here was recorded March 9-14, 2020, the week between Getting Into Knives and Songs for Pierre Chuvin at FAME Studios, the Alabama recording studio that’s hosted Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Gregg Allman and many more in the past.
“Mobile” features Muscle Shoals players Spooner Oldham (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt) on electric piano and Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, Tammy Wynette) on lead guitar.
Mountain Goats bassist Peter Hughes spoke about that experience and his interpretation of Darnielle’s lyrics in a statement, saying “The Mountain Goats have been playing together as a band long enough to have developed a degree of musical telepathy, but listening to these two guys responding in real-time to us and each other revealed another level of connectedness altogether, one bordering on the supernatural.
“We ran through most of these songs three times; I’m pretty sure the performance of “Mobile” you’re hearing is a second take.”
Listen to “Mobile” below.
Pre-order Dark in Here on CD and etched 2-LP here.
The Merge store is offering “High Noon Somewhere Blue” Peak Vinyl, along with a Mountain Goats pog pack and jigsaw puzzle that can be bundled together with the album, while the band store carries an exclusive “Mine-Lantern Pale” color-in-color vinyl edition.
Dark in Here tracklist:
01 “Parisian Enclave”
02 “The Destruction Of The Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower”
03 “Mobile”
04 “Dark In Here”
05 “Lizard Suit”
06 “When A Powerful Animal Comes”
07 “To A Headless Horseman”
08 “The New Hydra Collection”
09 “The Slow Parts On Death Metal Albums”
10 “Before I Got There”
11 “Arguing With The Ghost Of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review”
12 “Let Me Bathe In Demonic Light”
