It’s not hard to imagine what Kurt Vile might have heard in Nashville-raised songwriter Luke Roberts that would have compelled Vile to invite him on tour. Roberts’ new single “Silver Chain,” off his upcoming third studio LP Sunlit Cross, highlights almost all of his best qualities as a musician: There’s his mastery of repetition as a means of building momentum, his ability to tightrope walk along chords that noncommittally shuffle between uplift and remorse, and an immediately gripping voice that projects a fallible confidence sympathetically relatable.

“Silver Chain” only moves forward, refusing to waver in Roberts’ pursuit of salvation. At the deepest point in the song’s five minute run, as Roberts sings of the man who will, “sell his neck to save his cheeks/ To be your alibi,” he almost manages to convince us that he’s made it as far as he needs to go. But then the music exhales and the moment drifts away, with Roberts back at the shallow end left wondering, “Is there any other way for me to get across?” It’s an impeccably orchestrated and powerfully presented tragic hymn, with Vile’s contribution on banjo and back-up vocals blending seamlessly into Roberts’ world. Listen and watch the video below.

Tracklist:

01 “Song To Remember”
02 “American Music”
03 “Run”
04 “Virginia Girl”
05 “Nursery Rhyme”
06 “Silver Chain”
07 “Untitled Blues”
08 “Missing Blues”
09 “Many Miles”
10 “Big Chief Cole”

Sunlit Cross is out 10/14 via Thrill Jockey. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Andrea Behrends