Download The Avalanches’ First New Song in a Decade

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The Avalanches have been teasing us for quite a while — since 2005, actually, when we first heard reports that the Australian sample wizards were working on the follow-up to 2000’s groundbreaking Since I Left You. Since then, there have been dispatches every so often about how fantastic the new material is and how close their sophomore album is to release. But it’s taken until this very week to get so much as a single fresh track from the band.

As the Guardian reports, “Cowboy Overflow of the Heart” is billed as a demo and consists of a spoken-word track by David Berman of Silver Jews — who we haven’t heard much from in the three years since he broke up that band — underscored by some minimalist whoosh-and-jangle that falls somewhere between a film score and a jug band. As with much of Berman’s work, it’s introspective and melancholy, the instrumentals deliberately relegated to the background. All of which to say that this is an odd but still promising first glimpse of The Avalanches 2.0, and with Ariel Pink, Danny Brown, and Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux all recording vocals for the fabled new album, we’re hopeful that the reborn band will do an excellent job incorporating the particular strengths of their collaborators. Register at The Avalanches’ website to download “Cowboy Overflow of the Heart.”