My Morning Jacket Welcome ‘Spring’ With New Song

As the last remnants of winter recede, the opening lines of My Morning Jacket’s new song, “Spring (Among the Living),” express an especially apt sentiment: “Boy, I was ready,” sings Jim James over twinkling, intermingling guitar lines. “Boy, I was ready for spring.”

The latest offering from the band’s upcoming LP, The Waterfall, finds My Morning Jacket in classic form, sloughing off the shackles of winter in a sprawling, six-minute opus dotted with rumbling drums, intricate guitar work and, about halfway through, a sudden, surprising swell of strings.

“Spring (Among the Living)” follows The Waterfall‘s lead single, “Big Decisions,” and each arrived with simple, color-treated clips of waterfalls pouring out in slow motion. Both songs have been made available as instant downloads with pre-orders of The Waterfall.

The Waterfall marks My Morning Jacket’s first LP for Capitol Records ”” who will co-release it with the band’s longtime label ATO ”” and arrives four years after 2011’s Circuital. The 10-track album arrives on May 4th and a lengthy summer tour will follow, starting May 15th in Athens, Georgia (MMJ, however, are also scheduled to play the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day concert on April 18th at the National Mall in Washington D.C.)

My Morning Jacket began recording The Waterfall at the Panoramic House studio at Northern California’s Stinson Beach in late 2013. “I tried to give the guys a real quick demo so they can come in with a basic understanding of the melody or what I was hoping to go for,” James told Rolling Stone of the sessions last year. “But we had a really fun way of working where there’s no rehearsal period and we could jump in and just start rolling tape.” The band ended up with 24 tracks, with the remaining tracks planned as a separate album for 2016.