Modest Mouse Confirm New Album ‘Strangers to Ourselves’

Modest Mouse. Photo: Press image

Eight long years after Modest Mouse released their We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, Isaac Brock’s influential indie rock outfit will return in March 2015 with a new LP titled Strangers to Ourselves. The album will be preceded by the single “Lampshades on Fire,” a track that’s been in heavy rotation in Modest Mouse’s setlists dating back to 2011. A spokesperson for the band confirmed the info to Rolling Stone.

Word of Modest Mouse’s first LP since 2007 first leaked out when the band’s management started asking for the addresses of some fan page denizens, Interstate 8 reports. One member received their package from the band a few days early and took to Twitter to share what Modest Mouse sent: A test pressing of “Lampshades on Fire” as well as a typed-out letter from the band.

“We want you to have this limited test pressing of our new single ‘Lampshades On Fire.’ The song will be available for purchase tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16,” the note that accompanied the 45 rpm single said. “‘Lampshades on Fire’ is the first single from our new album Strangers to Ourselves, which will be released on Tuesday, March 3, 2015.” The single is also set to hit radio December 15th.

The band also posted a photo on their Instagram and Twitter accounts of McMansions circling a small plot of water. Fans speculate that the image might accompany either the “Lampshades” single or Strangers to Ourselves. Modest Mouse is also booked to perform at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas on Sunday night, which you can tune into starting at 5:30p.m. PST.

Not much is known about Modest Mouse’s We Were Dead follow-up other than Brock and company worked with OutKast’s Big Boi and Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, though it’s unclear whether those collaborations will make the finished Strangers to Ourselves. Recent Modest Mouse gigs have also featured new tracks titled “Shit In Your Cut,” “Sugar Boats” and “Be Brave.”