The Avett Brothers released a fresh studio album just last year, but when you’re on the same groove as Rick Rubin, maybe you get the itch to release at a rapid pace. Which is in part why the group is set to release new album “Magpie and the Dandelion,” due on Oct. 15 via Republic.
“While we were working on [2012’s] ‘The Carpenter,’ we were so inspired that we wrote another record as well. During those sessions, we just felt it,” the Avetts said in a release. “Working with Rick Rubin again, we tapped into something very special. It’s like everybody was in the same zone.”
The set is preceded by “Another Is Waiting,” which — astoundingly — clocks in at just over two minutes long. I can’t help but think of this as a mid-tempo, upbeat, new-era Green Day rocker with 100% more banjo. The guitars and banjo split channels and let the electric and drums ultimately taking the lead, with Seth and Scott’s harmonies pushed way, way forward. If anything, it’s a breeze to listen to.
Listen to “Another Is Waiting” via NPR here.
“If you think about a Magpie, it’s a bird from the crow family. You can see them everywhere, and they’ve got this strange grace. And, we all know what a dandelion is. It reminds you of being a kid and watching a flower come apart on a summer day. There’s a youthful wonder in that,” the band continued in their note. “Those kinds of feelings live and breathe inside this album.”
“The Carpenter” was The Avett Brothers’ biggest selling and highest charting album yet, making it to No. 4 on the Billboard 200. “Magpie” will be the folk-rockers’ third set with Rick Rubin.