Monsters of Folk Celebrate 15th Anniversary of Self-Titled Debut with Expanded New Edition
Monsters of Folk, the renowned band featuring Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward, Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), is commemorating the 15th anniversary of their self-titled album with an expanded new edition.
The album will be released on Friday, June 14, via ATO Records on clear vinyl and digital download. Pre-orders are currently available.
Barnes & Noble, Vinyl Me Please, and Rough Trade will also offer exclusive multi-colored vinyl options.
Originally released in 2009, the reissued album includes the original 15-song album and five additional studio tracks from a previously unreleased 2012 session featuring "Fifth Monster" Will Johnson (Centro-matic).
“That session was very much kept in the moment,” says Will Johnson. “I remember looking over at Jim playing drums on ‘Disappeared,’ joyfully bashing away, and it harbored that same exuberance of starting your first band: that moment in the garage where things take flight, and the energy and happiness just lead you onward.”
One of the new tracks, "Disappeared," has premiered, and an official visualizer has been released on YouTube.
Watch “Disappeared” by Monsters of Folk
In 2004, James, Oberst, Ward, and Mogis performed together in a tour called "An Evening With Bright Eyes, Jim James, and M. Ward," but it became known as the "Monsters of Folk Tour." After the tour, the songwriters released individual albums such as Bright Eyes' "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and "Cassadaga," My Morning Jacket's "Z" and "Evil Urges," and M. Ward's "Post War" and "Hold Time."
The reissue includes five tracks recorded in 2012 alongside Will Johnson of Centro-matic. These tracks were initially meant to accompany a dystopic sci-fi film based on Oberst's screenplay.
Reflecting on the album's creation, all the band members expressed their admiration for each other's musical talents, with Jim James noting, "It was so special to create with artists that I respect so much—to come into the project from a place of already loving so many of their songs and their outlook on the world, and then feel the whole experience opening me up to life in such a fresh and beautiful way."
Watch “Baby Boomer” by Monsters of Folk
The album was primarily produced by producer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist Mogis and came to life over a series of sessions at the historic Malibu studio Shangri-La and at Mogis’ own Omaha Another Recording Company in Omaha, NE.
The musicians handled all instrumentation themselves and embraced a free-flowing process that often hinged on encouraging each other to push into an entirely new musical terrain that shift from country to pop to psych-rock with equal parts untamed imagination and ineffable ease.
Fueled in part by the singles “Say Please” and “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” Monsters of Folk proved both a worldwide critical favorite as well as a popular sensation, reaching #15 on the overall Billboard 200 upon its 2009 release while also peaking among the top 10 on five additional album charts.