On the heels of “Coyotes” and “Lampshades On Fire,” Modest Mouse have shared “The Best Room,” the penultimate track from their upcoming new album Strangers To Ourselves. The song’s pretty political, taking issue with the degradation of Western civilization: “Let loose with your charms, go reckless unharmed, we all signed the card: ‘Get well, but don’t you try too hard,'” Issac Brock begins the song with a fervor. “The lessons unlearned, oh this meeting it’s adjourned! These western concerns, ‘Hold my place in line while I take your turn.'” Along with the new track the band has announced that they’re pushing the release date back a few weeks to 3/17, but on the flip side, they’ve shared the tracklist, which contains some very Modest Mouse-y song names. Listen to “The Best Room” and check out the tracklist below.

Lyrics:

Let loose with your charms, go reckless unharmed, we all signed the card; “Get well, but don’t you try too hard”. The lessons unlearned, Oh this meeting it’s adjourned! These western concerns, “Hold my place in line while I take your turn”.

To the empty balconies we serenade. All the playgrounds where them kids don’t get to play. Dirty parkies went and chased them all away, to the game consoles to fatten.

The best room they have is the last room you’d want. The bathroom’s outside, police tape is tied to the door knobs from rooms nine through thirty-two. Aw! These western concerns. We beg while we chew. These western concerns are all I ever really learned to be concerned with, but don’t you know it’s hard feeling tired every time that you try. Ain’t it hard feeling tired all the time?

The family living upstairs must have a fleet of rider lawn mowers, the novelist to my right’s convinced that every woman’s a whore. But he bothers me time and again to “set him up” with my very best friends, and I say “WHAT?!!” Says he doesn’t restate, but he will not shut up.

Don’t ya don’t ya know it’s hard feeling tired every time that you try? Ain’t it hard feeling tired all the time. Don’t ya don’t ya know. I am gonna bury my head in the woods right now. Scan for some mycelia and bring a little back to town. But don’t ya don’t ya know it’s hard feeling tired every time that you try.

Go reckless unharmed. Yep the shut-ins they’re well armed. We all led the charge, till we ran aground in our party barge, and every little gift was just one more part of their grift. Oh yeah we know it. The best news that we all got was just some dumb hokum we’d all bought. Let’s go reckless feeling great, we’re the sexiest of all primates. Let’s let loose with our charms, shake our ass and wave our arms, all going apeshit!

Tracklist:
01 “Strangers To Ourselves”
02 “Lampshades On Fire”
03 “Shit In Your Cut”
04 “Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)”
05 “Ansel”
06 “The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box”
07 “Coyotes”
08 “Pups To Dust”
09 “Sugar Boat”
10 “Wicked Campaign”
11 “Be Brave”
12 “God Is An Indian And You’re An Asshole”
13 “The Tortoise And The Tourist”
14 “The Best Room”
15 “Of Course We Know”

Per a press release, James Mercer sings back-up vocals throughout the LP, but no sign of Big Boi:

The 15 new, original songs of Strangers To Ourselves were recorded at Ice Cream Party in Portland, Oregon – a recording studio owned and operated by Isaac Brock. Originally leased in mid 2012 and purchased in late 2012, Ice Cream Party began as a makeshift studio, with mattresses against the walls to insulate sound, and was slowly transformed into a professional workspace where the band finished mixing the album in early 2015. Strangers To Ourselves was produced by Isaac Brock with additional production by Andrew Weiss, Tucker Martine, Clay Jones, and Brian Deck. The album features founding drummer Jeremiah Green, and a wide cast of musical collaborators, including James Mercer, who returns to sing back-up vocals throughout the album, Tom Peloso, Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy), Dann Gallucci (The Cold War Kids), Russell Higbee (formerly of Man Man), Ben Massaralla (Red Red Meat), Lisa Molinaro (Talkdemonic), Davey Brozowski (The Catheters), and more.

Strangers To Ourselves will be out 3/17 via Epic Records.