Band reunions aren’t supposed to go as well as Dinosaur Jr.’s. In the years since the original trio reformed, they’ve released some music that stands right alongside their classics from back in the day. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from them this time around; their last collection, Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not, came out back in 2016. Given, there were solo endeavors in the interim and we partially have the pandemic to blame for the long wait, since the group had an album originally slated for the middle of 2020. But here’s the good news: That album, Sweep It Into Space, is coming out in April.

Sweep It Into Space was recorded, as usual, at Amherst’s Biquiteen, and, as usual, it promises a bunch of fuzzy Dinosaur Jr. power-pop gems. What’s slightly less usual is that they co-produced it with Kurt Vile, up until COVID hit last year. Mascis says after that he “ended up just mimicking a few things [Kurt had] done. I was listening to a lot of Thin Lizzy, so I was trying to get some of that dueling twin lead sound. But the recording session was pretty well finished by the time things really hit the fan. When the lockdown happened in March, that meant I was on my own. But it was cool.” Also, there is a song on the album called “I Met The Stones,” and I personally can’t wait to hear that one.

Along with the announcement, the band have shared a lead single called “I Ran Away.” It features Vile on 12-string guitar, adding a nice little texture to a song that, otherwise, marks the return of Dinosaur Jr. with a song that sounds exactly how you want a Dinosaur Jr. song to sound. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “I Ain’t”
02 “I Met The Stones”
03 “To Be Waiting”
04 “I Ran Away”
05 “Garden”
06 “Hide Another Round”
07 “And Me”
08 “I Expect It Always”
09 “Take It Back”
10 “N Say”
11 “Walking To You”
12 “You Wonder”

Sweep It Into Space is out 4/23 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.