[Cover photo credit to Shervin Lainez]
The legend that is They Might Be Giants have a massive new project coming out November 12th called BOOK, a 144-page full-color, cloth-bound hardcover book and brand new full-length album. In addition to the book of BOOK, there will also be standalone audio releases available on vinyl, CD, and even cassette. The product of all the isolation we’ve all been experiencing, along with plenty of collaboration, the project evolved through “a series of brainstorms” with longtime collaborator and graphic design legend Paul Sahre and Brooklyn street photographer Brian Karlsson.
With BOOK, the band set out to “expand their own worldview through multiple mediums while continuing to refine their songwriting craft”. That sounds familiar, considering their innovations that started way back with the Dial-A-Song service, powered by a phone machine out of their Brooklyn apartments. This is their 23rd album breaking all the rules.
John Flansburgh explains:
“Paul took this crude device and showed what you could really do with it creatively, and combined with Brian’s photography it made up the secret sauce for the book.”
TMBG have recently released the song “Super Cool” from the album, as a free track on their Dial-A-Song App (iPhone / Android). They’ve also released the song across other platforms. This follows on previous singles from the album “I Can’t Remember the Dream” “I Lost Thursday” “I Broke My Own Rule”.
Here’s our tracklisting for BOOK:
1. Synopsis for Latecomers
2. Moonbeam Rays
3. I Broke My Own Rule
4. Brontosaurus
5. Lord Snowdon
6. If Day for Winnipeg
7. I Can’t Remember the Dream
8. Drown the Clown
9. Darling, the Dose
10. I Lost Thursday
11. Part of You Wants to Believe Me
12. Super Cool
13. Wait Actually Yeah No
14. Quit the Circus
15. Less Than One