Major Lazer have a new album on the way, Free the Universe, set to feature Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman, Shaggy, and more. It was previously set for release on 2/19 via Mad Decent/Downtown. According to the band, the release has now been delayed to 2/26. Until then, Major Lazer will release a series of three mixtapes. They released the first today, Lazer Strikes Back Vol. 1. Download it here and read a statement from the band below.

According to Major Lazer:

Our fans are the most important part of what makes Major Lazer what it is. It is with that consideration that “FREE THE UNIVERSE” will not be released this month as previously scheduled. We never want to disappoint our supporters but circumstances out of our control have made us unable to keep the intended date. For anyone disappointed, we are truly apologetic and we promise that this hiccup has only made what we have planned for the album stronger. We tried extremely hard to keep the date but it was ultimately decided that rushing the album would have been unfair to you and everyone who worked so hard on it.