Dependably awesome indie-rock veterans Wye Oak already piqued our anticipation for their upcoming album The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs with its title track and a video. Today Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack are back with another stunner from the LP, “It Was Not Natural.”

Squealing synths introduce a rolling bass and piano groove, guided ahead by typically expressive and eloquent narration from Wasner. By the time the chorus hits, her robust vocals and the musical backing are both soaring heavenward. However, the lyrics are about reckoning with what we encounter on Earth, as Wasner explains:

This is a story about finding an object of uncertain origin whilst walking through the woods. Or, if you’d rather: it’s about exploring the space between the things that we are socialized to believe about ourselves, and the actual truth of our nature — learning how to push the limits of the systems we’ve put in place to help ourselves make sense of chaos.

Makes sense for an album that, per the Baltimore natives’ official bio, “arrives at a time of immense doubt, when our personal problems are infinitely compounded by a world that seems in existential peril.” Listen to “It Was Not Natural” below.

The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs is out 4/6 on Merge. Pre-order it here.