Kurt Wagner is back, with new record, new sounds and new surprises, everything as always actually, only different. The song structures were not created on guitar as usual, but were born as midi piano miniatures." Freeing himself from these constraints led to a surprising new sound, with edges sanded down and viewed through Kurt's own specific lens.

Around the same time, he was preparing for a live show at the Eaux Claires Summer Festival in Wisconsin, originally founded by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National. Inspired by the originality of the performances he'd seen during the 2018 PEOPLE Festival in Berlin and some of the people he'd met there, he once again set out to do something new and turned to Ryan Olson and Andrew Broder to flesh out his rough piano ideas.

We don't need to mention at this point that the show never happened, but the ideas continued to grow and lead to something bigger, a whole new era for Lambchop. Also joining the band is trumpeter CJ Camerieri, and Grammy Award winner Jeremy Ferguson returns as co-producer.

It also seemed like an opportune time to bring another musician on board who fits Lambshop quite nicely, a collaboration felt long overdue to many. For the first time, James McNew, a longtime friend as well as member of Yo La Tengo, plays upright bass.