Okkervil River Detail New Album ‘Away’

Okkervil River have announced details for new album, Away. The follow-up to 2013’s The Silver Gymnasium, Away marks a transition for Will Sheff, with more backing band lineup shifts and personal loss.

“I didn’t plan to make it and initially wasn’t sure if it was going to be an Okkervil River album or if I’d ever put it out,” Sheff said in a statement. “I wrote the songs during a confusing time of transition in my personal and professional life and recorded them quickly with a brand new group of musicians.”

The nine-song set was recorded in three days at a Long Island studio on the same Neve 8068 console used for Steely Dan’s Aja and John Lennon’s Double Fantasy. The album features collaborations from Marissa Nadler, composer Nathan Thatcher and others.

“2013-2015 has been a strange time for me. I lost some connections in a music industry that was visibly falling apart. Some members of the Okkervil River backing band left, moving on to family life or to their own projects,” he continued. “I spent a good deal of time sitting in hospice with my grandfather, who was my idol, while he died. I didn’t know where I belonged.”

The singer culled songs for the album at his friend’s empty house in the Catskills. “Eventually, I realized I was writing a death story for a part of my life that had, buried inside of it, a path I could follow that might let me go somewhere new.”

That sentiment can be heard in the aptly titled “Okkervil River R.I.P,” the melancholic lead track to Away.

Okkervil River kick off their tour on June 30th in Austin, TX, before Away is released via ATO on September 9th.

Away Track List

1. “Okkervil River R.I.P.”
2. “Call Yourself Renee”
3. “The Industry”
4. “Comes Indiana Through the Smoke”
5. “Judey on a Street”
6. “She Would Look for Me”
7. “Mary on a Wave”
8. “Frontman in Heaven”
9. “Days Spent Floating (in the Halfbetween)”

Okkervil River Tour Dates

June 30 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
July 1 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
July 2 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
July 3 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater
July 14 – Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
July 15 – Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
July 16 – Hudson, NY @ Club Helsinki
July 17 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
July 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust
September 14 & 15 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
September 16 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmont
September 19 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
September 20 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
September 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West at King Plow Arts Center
September 23 – Memphis, TN @ 1884 Lounge
September 24 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
September 30 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
October 1 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
October 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
October 5 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
October 7 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
October 8 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
October 10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
October 11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
October 13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
October 14 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
October 15 – Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag
October 16 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
October 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
October 30 – Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret
October 31 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik
November 2 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Strand
November 3 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
November 4 – Weiseenhauser Strand @ Rolling Stone Weekender
November 5 – Amsterdam, Holland @ Paradiso Nord
November 7 – Paris, France @ Petit Bain
November 8 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique Rotonde
November 10 – London, England @ Islington Assembly Hall
November 11 – Bristol, England @ Thekla
November 12 – Manchester, England @ Gorilla
November 13 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Stereo