Back in 2015, the Dan Auerbach-led band the Arcs released their debut album Yours, Dreamily. As they were still touring behind that record, Auerbach let slip that they were already finished recording another album, though one didn’t materialize.

But today the Arcs announce a new album called Electrophonic Chronic, which was mostly recorded prior to the passing of bandmate and collaborator Richard Swift. “This new record is all about honoring Swift,” Auerbach said in a press release. “It’s a way for us to say goodbye to him, by revisiting him playing and laughing, singing. It was heavy at times, but I think it was really helpful to do it.”

Electrophonic Chronic was recorded between Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville and Electric Lady and the Diamond Mind in New York, and it features the lineup of Auerbach, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Swift.

“Whether it was New York City or Nashville or L.A. or Swift’s hometown of Cottage Grove, Oregon, wherever we were, we would always get in the studio together,” Auerbach said. “Always. It was our favorite thing to do. It’s rare that you meet a group of people that you click with like that, who you instantly bond with. We were just having fun, making sounds, making music. It was an amazing time for me.”

“There are probably between 80 and 100 tracks that we laid down, because we just constantly recorded after we put out Yours, Dreamily,” Michels added. “It was so much fun to be in the studio once again, so we were just making music all the time. I think there was always a plan to make a follow-up record.”

Electrophonic Chronic will be out in January, and lead single “Keep On Dreamin,” a staple of their live sets around the last LP, is out now. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Keep On Dreamin”
02 “Eyez”
03 “Heaven Is A Place”
04 “Califone Interlude”
05 “River”
06 “Sunshine”
07 “A Man Will Do Wrong”
08 “Behind The Eyes”
09 “Backstage Mess”
10 “Sporting Girls Interlude”
11 “Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
12 “Only One For Me”

Electrophonic Chronic is out 1/27 via Easy Eye Sound. Pre-order it here.