Yo La Tengo will be releasing their new album titled Popular Songs on September 8th. Matador Records describes Popular Songs as a large departure for a band that is already famous for their “stylistic range”:
Even for longtime followers of Yo La Tengo, the stylistic range encompassed on ‘Popular Songs’ is startling ; the band aren’t merely conversant with rock & pop subgenres stretching into the double digits, but their unselfconscious mastery of such is simply uncanny. Without absolving you of the sacred responsibility of listening to this album from start to finish (with no commercial interruptions!) , we can say with full confidence there are portions of ‘Popular Songs’ where a cursory needle drop reveals a band that doesn’t sound instantly like Yo La Tengo — or at least how you recognized them prior to now. In the words of Mike Wolf, “Yo La Tengo is not afraid. They walk confidently forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.”
It’s hard to imagine parts of a Yo La Tengo record that don’t sound like Yo La Tengo, but perhaps it’s because I’m too in love with this band and just about everything they’ve ever released. The longtime YLT fan has learned to appreciate the not-knowing what you’re going to get with this band and that’s part of the reason they are so beloved and still have a great career.
Matador is offering up a free mp3 download of the track “Periodically Double or Triple.”
Lastly, here’s the wonderful cover art:
