Empty Country – the project of former Cymbals Eat Guitars leader Joseph D’Agostino – have announced Empty Country II, the follow-up to their 2020 self-titled LP. The album was recorded over two weeks at R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter’s studio Fidelitorium in Kernersville, North Carolina. It’s set to arrive on November 3 via Tough Love/Get Better Records. Check out the lead single ‘Erlking’ and find the album cover and tracklist below.
“‘Erlking’ takes its name from ‘Erlkönig’ Goethe’s famous poem depicting the death of a child stalked by a supernatural being,” D’Agostino explained in a statement. “Though I wrote this song on the day of the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, the ’20 kids’ referenced are the Sandy Hook children. In the parallel version of the American dystopia I depict in Empty Country II, Erlkings are ultraterrestrial demons that stalk the innocent and infect the minds of men. These entities’ lives span eons. To them, the whole of our country’s pernicious history is as brief as a Chopin prelude or a TV jingle. One short verse/ 13 Bars/ The force of 50 collapsing stars.”
Empty Country II Cover Artwork:
Empty Country II Tracklist:
1. Pearl
2. Erlking
3. David
4. Dustine
5. Syd
6. Bootsie
7. FLA
8. Lamb
9. Cool S
