Castanets’ contribution to the American music canon has always been a strange, experimental, defiant one. Beer-soaked country rock gone contrarian noise. Corpse-y folk and desert blues. Live shows and past records brought free-jazz and Nashville together or went dub like it was casual. But no matter how out there it’s gone, Castanets’ music has always had this sly, wizened eye for catchiness and a quiet, laidback flirtation with beats. In the five years since Castanets main-man Raymond Raposa dropped his debut, Cathedral, it has always seemed like Raposa was just one step away from writing a whopper of a totally accessible pop record.

And here it is, Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts. Only it’s not. By some dark alchemy, Castanets has managed to craft an album that is as catchy and well-defined as it is full of experimentation. And more so. More so on the catchy. More so on the song-craft. More so on the clean, majestic classy production (courtesy of our own Rafter Roberts). But also more so on the noise, the haunted electronics, and the all-out remodeling of American song forms.

It’s something new and it’s something epic – and it satisfies. There are many things we can ask for from our music but to be satisfied is paramount. Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts, the brand-new record from Castanets, is out September 22nd. You can read more about the album here.

In between now and then, Castanets are touring, extensively through June. Those tourdates are here.