Dinosaur Jr announce new Kurt Vile co-produced album (listen to “I Ran Away”)

Dinosaur Jr have announced details of their 12th album, which is titled Sweep it Into Space and will be out April 23 via Jagjaguwar.  The trio started the record in fall of 2019 with help from co-producer/tourmate Kurt Vile, and had planned to have it out mid-2020. Then of course, COVID hit and threw a wrench into things.

The band ended up finishing the album during lockdown without Kurt, though J Mascis says he ended up “mimicking a few things” Vile had laid down. “I was listening to a lot of Thin Lizzy, so I was trying to get some of that dueling twin lead sound. But the recording session was pretty well finished by the time things really hit the fan. When the lockdown happened in March, that meant I was on my own. But it was cool.” The record was mixed last year by regular Dino Jr knob-twiddler John Agnello.

The first single off the album is “I Ran Away” which features Vile on 12-string guitar, which sounds great on this laid back jam with a little of that twin-lead riffing and a very catchy chorus. You can check it out via its official visualizer below.

Sweep in Into Space also includes Lou Barlow’s “Garden” which Dinosaur Jr premiered at those socially distant shows last fall. Check out the album art and tracklist below.

While we wait for the new album, we’ve got a sizable chunk of Dinosaur Jr’s catalogue in our vinyl shop, including You’re Living All Over Me, Dinosaur, Farm, I Bet on Sky, and Give a Glimpse of What You’re Not.

Tracklist:
1. I Ain’t
2. I Met The Stones
3. To Be Waiting
4. I Ran Away
5. Garden
6. Hide Another Round
7. And Me
8. I Expect It Always
9. Take It Back
10. N Say
11. Walking To You
12. You Wonder