An evocative journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy. This 23rd studio album across the band’s three-decade career feels very much like a historical musical, beginning with a polished classical, Overture, but slipping often in to acoustic guitar folk and and other gentle instrumentation, with piano, woodwind, and light percussion, rippling harp and electronica, sometimes criss-crossing into jazz, indie-rock, power pop into a clearly sung soundtrack of events of the dangerous voyage from a first-person narrative and joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The adventure begins with the jaunty, rather lovely, optimism-filled Fishing Boat (“free as the churn of the riptide”), but begins into run into difficulties with the urgent thrum of Cold At Night as sickness descends, then a greater sense of musical and lyrical foreboding on Dawn of Revelation, with then morphs into thumping defiance, bravery and hope (“no one is going to die alone”). But as things begin to do awry through depleted rations, through Peru, Through This Fire, and Rocks In My Pockets, and another beautiful number, Armies of the Lord as companions fall, tragedy inexorably moves towards the punchy, rock-pop of Broken To Begin With, despite the suggestion of failure, the album is all about bravery and comradeship, an uplifting album dedicated to the human spirit. The album is the first without a key band member, seen as another fallen hero, and as Darnielle puts it: “Since its protagonist shares a first name with our longstanding bassist Peter Hughes, who bid farewell to the sea in 2024, this album is dedicated to him – he who served aboard the good ship Mountain Goats for so many years: may the fire always keep you warm, and may your nights in its light be as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach.” Out on Cadmean Dawn.
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