Anyone familiar with John Darnielle's project The Mountain Goats will know that he has gone through plenty of changes since his beginning, from the days of lowest-fi folk-pop songs to his most recent slick, big-band recordings. Well, on October 6, Darnielle will take yet another step in his own storied history when he releases a record full of Bible lessons, with each song named after a certain passage in The Bible.
So, the first thing that must be asked of this change is: Will Bible sales go up from all the rabid indie kids, simply to read the passages that Darnielle is referencing? Probably! Secondly: Has Darnielle had some sort of religous awakening? Well, Darnielle already saw that one coming and preempted the backlash through his website, writing that "lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of."
Darnielle's 18th (?) album, The Life of the World to Come, was recorded at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston, at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton, and at Baucom Road with Scott Solter, between April and June of this year. The band is made up of Jon Wurster and Peter Hughes, as well as Owen Pallett doing string arrangements and playing on select tracks. Anyone looking to take a sneak peak should visit the Mountain Goats website where you can download "Genesis 3:23."
Tracklisting:
1. 1 Samuel 15:23
2. Psalms 40:2
3. Genesis 3:23
4. Philippians 3:20-21
5. Hebrews 11:40
6. Genesis 30:3
7. Romans 10:9
8. 1 John 4:16
9. Matthew 25:21
10. Deuteronomy 2:10
11. Isaiah 45:23
12. Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace
