One of the most exciting indie rock news items this year was the hint of some forthcoming Kurt Vile/Courtney Barnett collaboration. Today the Philadelphia and Melbourne musicians, both masters of guitar-driven stoner rock of a sort, have announced an entire album together along with a tour to support it this fall. We don’t get to know anything else about the album yet beyond its tantalizing existence, but we do know Vile and Barnett will be performing together backed by an “amazing all-star band” called the Sea Lice. The band comprises Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag), Rob Laakso (The Violators, The Swirlies, Mice Parade), Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), and Katie Harkin (Sky Larkin, touring member of Sleater-Kinney and Wild Beasts) — so, yeah, that certainly qualifies as amazing.

On Facebook, Barnett writes:

somewhere along the dusty road I became friends with this constant hitmaker Kurt Vile. I’ve been a huge fan of his songwriting since I first heard his album Smoke Ring For My Halo n now we’ve razzled up a special show for you..me n Kurt together on stage plus our amazing all-star band that we have called The Sea Lice. I wish we could take the tour all around the world, but due to both our intercontinental schedules, this is all we can muster for now. Album coming soon, we’ll talk about that another day. CB XO

Vile shared his admiration for Barnett in a press release:

I just love her voice in general… great lyrics of course… I love all her music but the song that really hit me was “Depreston”—I know it’s popular but her voice is so good in that song and it’s so pretty and sincere… i’m a sucker for that kinda song: instant classic.

It started out as, maybe we’ll do a split 7? together but then I figured let’s make it a 12? so it doesn’t get lost in the world, shoot for 5 songs. It wasn’t until i had another KV tour booked for the following summer in Oz that we thought we should record as much as we can, just see what happens, no major goal to make it a full length, but it came together that way ‘cause the vibe was so strong with everyone.”

Check out the tour dates below:

10.11.17 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA
10.14.17 – The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church – Los Angeles, CA
10.15.17 – Orpheum Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
10.18.17 – Fox Theatre – Oakland, CA
10.20.17 – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – Portland, OR
10.21.17 – Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
10.22.17 – The Showbox – Seattle, WA
10.25.17 – Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN
10.26.17 – Rockefeller Chapel – Chicago, IL
10.27.17 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL
10.28.17 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
10.30.17 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Royal Oak, MI
10.31.17 – Massey Hall – Toronto, ON
11.1.17 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY
11.3.17 – Tower Theatre – Upper Darby, PA
11.4.17 – Orpheum Theatre – Boston, MA
11.9.17 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
11.10.17 – McFarlin Memorial Auditorium – Dallas, TX
11.11.17 – ACL Live at the Moody Theater – Austin, TX