In the three-month interim since we announced Pearls To Swine — Texas-via-Ohio singer-songwriter Adam Torres’ first album in a decade and first for Fat Possum — Torres suffered a major highway accident that destroyed his motorcycle landed him in a hospital bed. He’s OK now, and the accident happened after the album was completed, but the knowledge of his near-demise now hangs over my experience of the album, which premiered in full today at NPR.

Pearls To Swine was already plenty eerie without that context, though. Torres is one of those singers whose falsetto verges on inhuman, and hearing him unleash it over these slowly drifting folk-rock landscapes is a bit like stumbling upon a mirage in the rural territory outside Austin. Imagine Jeff Buckley soundtracking a spaghetti western and you’re somewhere in the vicinity. Or don’t imagine at all — just press play and immerse yourself below.

Pearls To Swine is out Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.