After some teasing and a callout to fans for help, Dan Mangan has delivered on the whispers of a new album, the details of which have now been revealed. His seventh LP, Natural Light, is due to arrive on May 16 through Arts & Crafts.
Having thankfully ditched the working title Schminger Schmongwriter, Mangan's latest is indeed said to seed his "singular lyricism" honed alongside friends, fittingly, in a cabin in the woods (seen in the cover art above) over six days to conjure "love songs about a planet on the brink of collapse" and "campfire songs for a world on fire."
Mangan shared of the effort, "This entire album feels like one big happy accident. A gift from the ether. Even if it was never to be released, I can't fully articulate how grateful I am to have had such a cosmic and charged creative experience with these three people I love so dearly. We were completely locked in. I get choked up just thinking about it."
Today, Mangan previews the effort with lead single "Melody," about "needing affirmation from something over which you have no control." He explained, "It's about the grief of having something special and then losing it — about getting the benefit of the doubt, and then no longer getting the benefit of the doubt. It's about love, or society, or the music industry, or a brief moment above par on the existential rollercoaster."
Hear "Melody" below, where you can also find the album's tracklist.
Natural Light:
1. It Might Be Raining
2. Diminishing Returns
3. I Hated Love Songs
4. Contained Free (Interlude)
5. No Such Thing as Wasted Love
6. Melody
7. My Dreams Are Getting Weirder
8. Soapbox
9. Cut the Brakes
10. For Him
11. Sound the Alarm
12. Proximity
13. Hit the Wall