Country Mice leader Jason Rueger and drummer Austin Nelson formed the mellowed-out roots rock band Curtin in Brooklyn, but these days they’re based out of Chicago. There they enlisted the assistance of Wilco’s Mikael Jorgensen, who lent his moody keyboard sonics to four songs from Curtin’s upcoming One For The Doghearted, recorded at Nelson’s home studio in Charleston, SC. The connection to Wilco makes perfect sense because Rueger’s songwriting taps into the same casually shruggling, world-weary spirit Jeff Tweedy has been channeling since at least Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. You might say “Better Ride” sounds like a ghost being born — a somber slow-glide that eventually descends from sad-eyed alt-country into gorgeous digital static. Let it wash over you below.

One For The Doghearted is coming this summer. Before that, check out Curtin on tour this spring:

4/18 New York, NY @ Piano’s (w/ New Madrid)
4/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo (w/ New Madrid)
4/21 Detroit, MI @ Lager House
4/22 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
4/23 Rock Island, IL @ Daytrotter
4/23 Des Moise, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
4/24 St, Louis, MO @ Plush
4/25 Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
4/27 Kansas City, MO @ Czar Bar
5/7 Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl
5/8 Portland, OR @ The Knock Back
5/11 Eugene, OR @ Sam Bond’s
5/13 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern
5/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Los Globos
5/15 Tucson, AZ @ Sky Bar
5/16 Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space
5/18 Denver, CO @ Sidewinder Tavern
5/21 Lubbock, TX @ Backstage
5/23 Austin, TX @ Lambert’s
5/25 New Orleans, LA @ Circle Bar
5/28 Charleston, SC @ The Royal American