The Mountain Goats announce “full-on musical” album ft Tommy Stinson & Lin-Manuel Miranda (hear a track)

The Mountain Goats have announced a new album, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, that will be out November 7 via their own Cadmean Dawn Records. It’s described as a “full-on musical” and features contributions from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Did you have all those on your MG Bingo Card?

Here’s the synopsis of this musical’s story: “Drawing on the cryptic phrasing of its title, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan tells the story of a small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three surviving members—an unnamed narrator, Captain Peter Balkan, and Adam—are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions. These are tales of survival and desolation, brutality and tenderness, hard-earned wisdom and heaps of compassion, novelistic detail and shouted, wordless choruses that transcend language.”

“There were sixteen men on a fishing boat but only three survived the storm, and one of those went missing, and is presumed dead. That leaves me & Peter Balkan, whose health is failing as his apocalyptic visions dissipate in the spray at the shore,” John Darnielle says, expanding on the album’s concept. “We recorded this in January at Dreamland Studios. Matt Douglas produced it; Ben Loughran who you know from tour did the synth with Matt as co-conspirator; that’s Mikaela Davis on the harp; the voice on the harmonies in the bridge that sounds like Lin-Manuel Miranda is Lin-Manuel Miranda, who followed Peter Balkan’s story from its early gleanings through its realization.”

You can listen to first single “Armies of the Lord,” which even with the musical theater intentions — and Lin-Manuel Miranda harmonies — is still a through-and-through Mountain Goats song, below.

The Mountain Goats are on tour starting September 17 in Atlanta and hit the NYC area at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall on October 4. All dates are listed below.

THROUGH THIS FIRE ACROSS FROM PETER BALKAN
1. Overture
2. Fishing Boat
3. Cold at Night
4. Dawn of Revelation
5. Your Bandage
6. Peru
7. Through This Fire
8. Rocks in My Pockets
9. Armies of the Lord
10. Your Glow
11. The Lady from Shanghai 2
12. Broken To Begin With

MOUNTAIN GOATS – TOUR DATES:
09/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
09/18 – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
09/19 – Isle of Palms, SC @ The Windjammer
09/20 – Black Mountain, NC @ Pisgah Brewing Company
09/22 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
09/24 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater *
09/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
09/27 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
09/28 – Peoria, IL @ TempleLive at Peoria Scottish Rite Theatre
09/29 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
10/01 – Huntington, WV @ The Loud
10/02 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall
10/03 – Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
10/04 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
11/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
11/30 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM
12/01 – Missoula, MT @ The Wilma
12/03 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre – SOLD OUT
12/04 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre – SOLD OUT
12/05 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
12/06 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
12/08 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall – SOLD OUT
12/09 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall – SOLD OUT
12/10 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore – SOLD OUT
12/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT
12/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT
12/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

* supporting Rilo Kiley