It’s been a few years since Yo La Tengo have released new music. But in quarantine, the indie vets decided to drop a new song titled “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds (Monday)” that they recently recorded at their practice facility in New Jersey while in quarantine. The group shared the song on their new Bandcamp page.
Ira Kaplan explained the origins of the song in a statement on the description on the newly-minted page:
If you’ve spent any time hanging out with us at our rehearsal space in Hoboken—that pretty much covers none of you—you’ve heard us playing formlessly (he said, trying to sidestep the word “improvising”). Most of the songs we’ve written in the last 25 years have begun that way, but often we do it for no other reason than to push away the outside world.
In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resumed . . . “practicing” hardly describes it, because we’ve done no practicing per se, and anyway what would be practicing for . . . playing. James set up one microphone in the middle of the room in case we stumbled on something useful for the future. Instead we decided to release something we did right now.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the group’s Electr-o-Pura would be reissued this year and Lacey Dacus shared a cover of “Tom Courtenay” from it.
Listen to Yo La Tengo’s “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds (Monday)” below.
