Uniform recently teamed up with the Body for a collaborative album, and today the NYC noise-rock group have announced that they’ll be releasing a new album of their own, the follow-up to early 2017’s Wake In Fright. This one’s called The Long Walk, and the band — previously made up of just Michael Berdan and Ben Greenberg — have expanded to a trio, now including drummer Greg Fox, who plays with Liturgy and Zs.

The album was inspired by Stephen King’s novel The Long Walk, which came out under his Richard Bachman pseudonym in 1979. It was the first book that King wrote, though not the first one he published. As Berdan explains:

In Steven King’s book, ‘The Walk’ is a shorthand colloquialism for an annual race ordered by a totalitarian American government called ‘The Long Walk’. In this contest, 100 boys are made to walk south from the Maine/Canada border at a constant rate of 4mph until only one is left standing. The winner is granted anything he wants for the rest of his life, while a far more nefarious fate awaits the 99 behind him. It is one of the most cynical stories I’ve ever read and speaks volumes to many of the ugliest parts of the human condition.

Over time I’ve come to view aspects of the book as loosely parallel to feelings I’ve had towards organized religion and capitalism, where for some people an unattainable ideal is set as an absolute. We allow ourselves to be broken under rigidly defined norms regarding traditional strata, where lack of compliance leads to ostracization and success as dictated by religious and economic rule often leads to the disintegration of one’s own hopes and dreams. As someone existing in late capitalism who sees beauty and personal empowerment in many of the basic tenants of all world religions, these are subjects that I wrestle with constantly.

The first song that they’re sharing from the album, “The Walk,” is a chaotic and muddled ripper that sounds as conflicted as it does enduring. It’s accompanied by a video directed by Danny Perez which highlights the cynicism of the current non-stop cycle of news. Watch and listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “The Walk”
02 “Human Condition”
03 “Found”
04 “Transubstantiation”
05 “Alone In The Dark”
06 “Headless Eyes”
07 “Anointing Of The Sick”
08 “Peaceable Kingdom”

TOUR DATES:
07/11 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom #
07/13 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey #
07/14 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk #
07/15 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
07/17 Orlando, FL @ The Social #
07/18 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade #
07/19 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle #
07/20 Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry #
07/21 Washington, DC @ 930 Club #
07/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer #
07/24 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
07/25 Boston, MA @ Royale #
07/26 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount #
07/27 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House #
07/28 Detroit, MI @ El Club #
07/29 Cincinnati, OH @ The Mockbee
07/30 Chicago, IL @ Metro #
07/31 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall #
08/01 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center #
08/02 Rock Island, IL @ Rozz Tox
08/03 St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room #
08/04 Lawrence, KS @ The Granada #
08/05 Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater #
08/06 Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett #
08/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall #
08/08 Boise, ID @ Neurolux #
08/10 Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre #
08/11 Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial #
08/12 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom #
08/14 San Francisco, CA @ August Hall #
08/16 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
08/17 San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick #
08/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern #
# w/ Deafheaven

The Long Walk is out 8/17 via Sacred Bones. Pre-order it here.