The Mountain Goats—John Darnielle, Matt Douglas, and Jon Wurster—announce their 23rd full-length album, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan (Cadmean Dawn), due Nov 7th, with its soaring lead single “Armies of the Lord.” 

Produced by the Mountain Goats’ multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan is a full-on musical that stands as the most conceptually detailed and musically elaborate project in the band’s ever-expanding catalog. It features appearances from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, musical theater royalty Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the band’s new bassist Cameron Ralston.

“There were sixteen men on a fishing boat but only three survived the storm, and one of those went missing, and is presumed dead. That leaves me & Peter Balkan, whose health is failing as his apocalyptic visions dissipate in the spray at the shore,” John Darnielle explains.” The Mountain Goats are proud to announce Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan, a story of momentary visions away from the world, due 7 November 2025 on Cadmean Dawn Records: our own label! The first song we’re sharing from it is called “Armies of the Lord”; we recorded this in January at Dreamland Studios. Matt Douglas produced it; Ben Loughran who you know from tour did the synth with Matt as co-conspirator; that’s Mikaela Davis on the harp; the voice on the harmonies in the bridge that sounds like Lin-Manuel Miranda is Lin-Manuel Miranda, who followed Peter Balkan’s story from its early gleanings through its realization. Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan. Only available on Cadmean Dawn Records and tapes.”

Drawing on the cryptic phrasing of its title, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan tells the story of a small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three surviving members—an unnamed narrator, Captain Peter Balkan, and Adam—are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions. These are tales of survival and desolation, brutality and tenderness, hard-earned wisdom and heaps of compassion, novelistic detail and shouted, wordless choruses that transcend language. In other words, these are Mountain Goats songs, further deepening a singular body of work now spanning over three decades

The Mountain Goats recently announced a 20th Anniversary reissue of their 2005 fan-favorite album, The Sunset Tree, remastered at Abbey Road Studios. Additionally, John Darnielle is releasing 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days in December, which pairs the definitive texts of 365 of his songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music, which reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them. 

The Mountain Goats are hitting the road this fall on a tour that starts next week. All dates below.

TOUR DATES:

09/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
09/18 – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
09/19 – Isle of Palms, SC @ The Windjammer
09/20 – Black Mountain, NC @ Pisgah Brewing Company
09/22 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
09/24 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater *
09/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
09/27 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
09/28 – Peoria, IL @ TempleLive at Peoria Scottish Rite Theatre
09/29 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
10/01 – Huntington, WV @ The Loud
10/02 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall
10/03 – Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
10/04 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
11/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
11/30 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM
12/01 – Missoula, MT @ The Wilma
12/03 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre – SOLD OUT
12/04 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre – SOLD OUT
12/05 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
12/06 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
12/08 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall – SOLD OUT
12/09 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall – SOLD OUT
12/10 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore – SOLD OUT
12/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT
12/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT
12/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

*supporting Rilo Kiley