Nickel Creek — the trio made up of Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins — have announced a new album, Celebrants, their first since 2014’s A Dotted Line. “This is a record about embracing the friction inherent in real human connection,” the band said. “We begin the record yearning for and pursuing harmonious connection. We end the record having realized that truly harmonious connection can only be achieved through the dissonance that we’ve spent our entire adult lives trying to avoid.”

The Grammy-lauded trio announced their return last year with a series of live shows, which will take place in the coming months. Today, they’ve shared a new single, “Strangers. “This song is an exploration of the ostensibly rewarding but often awkward, even excruciating act of catching up with an old friend,” Thile said. “Can the connection be reforged? Should it be?”

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Celebrants”
02 “Strangers”
03 “Water Under The Bridge, Part 1”
04 “The Meadow”
05 “Thinnest Wall”
06 “Going Out…”
07 “Holding Pattern”
08 “Where The Long Line Leads”
09 “Goddamned Saint”
10 “Stone’s Throw”
11 “Goddamned Saint, Reprise”
12 “From The Beach”
13 “To The Airport”
14 “…Despite The Weather”
15 “Hollywood Ending”
16 “New Blood”
17 “Water Under The Bridge, Part 2”
18 “Failure Isn’t Forever”

LIVE DATES:
01/27 London, UK @ Union Chapel
01/28 London, UK @ Union Chapel
01/29 Glasgow, UK @ City Halls, Celtic Connections
04/27 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
04/28 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
04/29 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
06/04 Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
06/15-18 Telluride, CO @ Telluride Bluegrass Festival
09/01 London, UK @ Barbican Centre

Celebrants is out 3/24 via Thirty Tigers.