I've experienced a strange phenomenon at every single Mates of State show I've ever been to: I'm by far one of the oldest people in attendance. Seeing how I haven't been to a show by the duo in two years, I can only assume that this will be far worse once they start touring in support of Re-Arrange Us, their fifth album, which was announced today.
The recording and release of Re-Arrange Us was scheduled around the birth of their second child, June Elizabeth Hammel, born on January 4th. The album will be born in May on Barsuk Records, and so far "Now," "Jigsaw" and "Get Better" have been announced as song titles. Apparently, they've left behind the organ in favor of a standard piano (similar to the set-up they used on NPR's "This American Life" tour last year).
For more information visit www.matesofstate.com or barsuk.com/matesofstate
Special thanks to the Mates of State message board for pointing towards bootleg live footage of some of the new songs. Below is a shaky (but mostly audible) version of what is probably "Now":
