This summer, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and Thor are at it again.
…Wait. No, that’s not right.
Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman…Hmm. No. That’s not it either.
Ah, right: the superheroes of indie rock—Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner (The National), Nico Muhly, and James McAlister—are releasing a collaborative album this summer. There we go!
The album, entitled Planetarium, is a seventeen-track epic inspired by our solar system, and it’s due out June 9 on 4AD.
For this set, which has been in the works for years, our superheroes will unite their powers to create cool, spacey music. That’s right: Stevens’ voice, Dessner’s guitar, Muhly’s orchestration, and McAlister’s beats will come together with full force, creating unstoppable sonic waves that will likely comprise auto-tune, benevolence, despair, and, of course, ultra-chill vibes (and maybe some ultra-threatening vibes, too?). Also — strings and trombones. Conceptually, the songs will revolve around “cosmic ideas,” and Stevens’ lyrics will deal with “mythology, astrology, science, astronomy and the intricacies of human consciousness.”
Luckily, though, you don’t have to wait until June to know exactly what “cosmic ideas” are, because they have just released the single “Saturn,” the video for which can be watched below. You can also pre-order the whole album from 4AD here.
Planetariun tracklisting:
01. Neptune
02. Jupiter
03. Halley’s Comet
04. Venus
05. Uranus
06. Mars
07. Black Energy
08. Sun
09. Tides
10. Moon
11. Pluto
12. Kuiper Belt
13. Black Hole
14. Saturn
15. In The Beginning
16. Earth
17. Mercury
More about: Bryce Dessner, James McAlister, Nico Muhly, Sufjan Stevens
