It’s barely been a year since Margo Price released her excellent album Strays, and this October she’ll release an expanded edition titled Strays II. The double album features nine new songs, which are broken down into three acts: “Act I: Topanga Canyon,” “Act II: Mind Travel,” and “Act III: Burn Whatever’s Left.” Today, we get to hear the first act, which features Strays producer Jonathan Wilson and Buck Meek of Big Thief (“Malibu”), plus Ny Oh (“Closer I Get”). The double album will also be accompanied by a three-part short film directed by Chris Phelps.

Of the three new tracks out today, Margo Price says:

The title track is the story of how my husband Jeremy and I met and fell in love in Nashville two decades ago. I wrote most of the words and Jeremy wrote the chords and melody. It also reflects how we have always tried to stay true to who we are as people: “Love and pain it comes in waves but it was quite enough in those early days, we were wild as wolves my darlin’, we were strays.”

“Closer I Get” (co-written with Jeremy Ivey) was originally meant to open this double album with the line, ‘Being alive costs a lot of money but so does dying.’ I’ve always thought it was unfair that the moment we are born, we immediately start racking up debt just for existing. This song was conjured from the ashes of our initial psychedelic trip – sometimes your perception and depth of field changes depending on where you’re at in life.

“Malibu” was written with Mike Campbell in his Malibu home after Jeremy and I had driven through the canyon fleeing a forest fire to get my guitar from our Airbnb. I had the start of the song and brought it to him looking to finish it out. I wanted to write something with a country funk/Bobbie Gentry feel, a good long rambling story about the minutiae of the day, like “Ode to Billy Joe.” Mike added the long “California” yodel and the bridge and was exactly what the song needed. My favorite line is ‘love and grief are a package deal, the more you have, the more you feel.”

Listen to Margo Price’s first act below:

TRACKLIST:
Act I: Topanga Canyon
01 “Strays”
02 “”Closer I Get (feat. Ny Oh)
03 “Malibu” (Feat. Jonathan Wilson, Buck Meek)

Act II: Mind Travel
04 “Black Wolf Blues”
05 “Mind Travel”
06 “Unoriginal Sin” (Feat. Mike Campbell)

Act III: Burn Whatever’s Left
07 “Homesick” (Feat. Jonathan Wilson)
08 “Where Did We Go Wrong”
09 “Burn Whatever’s Left”

TOUR DATES:
08/24 – London, UK @ Rough Trade East
08/25 – London, UK @ Lafayette
08/26 – Leicestershire, UK @ The Long Road
09/08 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
09/09 – Bristol, TN @ Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
09/10 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl County Fair
09/11 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall #
09/12 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom #
09/14 – Bloomington, IN @ The Castle Theatre #
09/15 – Madison, WI @ Live On King Street #
09/16 – Bayfield, WI @ Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua #
09/17 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s #
09/22 – Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
09/23 – Noblesville, IN @ Farm Aid
09/24 – Franklin, TN @ Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival
09/28 – Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg University (XL Live)^
09/29 – Northampton, MA @ Academy of Music^
09/30 – North Truro, MA @ Payomet Performing Arts Center^
10/01 – Bridgeport, CT @ Sound on Sound
10/03 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom^
10/05 – Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena*
10/06 – University Park, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center*
10/07 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena*
10/27 – Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater!
11/03 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Dreamy Draw

*supporting Chris Stapleton
#w/ S.G. Goodman
^w/ Brit Taylor
!supporting Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit

Strays II is out 10/12 via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order it here.