Lambchop recipe #11 discovered, details to be released as Mr. M on Merge in February 2012

Lambchop recipe #11 discovered, details to be released as Mr. M on Merge in February 2012

Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop have announced the impending release of their — count ‘em — 11th studio album on the band’s longtime label Merge. Come February 21, when you’ll be feeling the need for something to warm you up, you can pick up a copy of Mr. M, grab a cup of a hot (spiked) beverage, and settle in for some bizarre lyrics mumbled over dreamy, lilting melodies that offer just a hint of Nashville goodness.

Based on the only track released so far, “If Not I’ll Just Die,” the album finds Mr. Wagner and team continuing in the trajectory of their last few albums, adding in more orchestrations (string arrangements courtesy of Peter Stopschinski and Mason Neely) than their previous release OH (ohio), (TMT Review) and continuing the use of dark lyrics sung in a light, almost cheery manner that undercuts their sometimes disturbing meaning.

Mr. M is dedicated to the late Vic Chesnutt and features many of Lambchop’s longtime members along with some special guests, including founding member Jonathan Marx, Nashville singer-songwriter Cortney Tidwell, and fiddler Billy Contreras, who worked most recently with Laura Cantrell on her Kitty Wells tribute album released earlier this year. Chesnutt, a fixture of the Nashville music scene up until his suicide in 2009, collaborated with Lambchop in 1998 when the group served as the backing band for his album The Salesman and Bernadette.

• Lambchop: http://www.lambchop.net
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com

Most Read



Etc.