The boys are already queuing the release of their new album, "The Golden Archipelago", with a free download! Apart from being available as a single MP3 in 192Kbps, it's available in lossless heavenly FLAC, with single artwork and "dossier pages" to boot! Here's the coming album cover:

Here's the track:

[audio:http://www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/shearwater/shearwater_castaways.mp3]

The extravagant stuff you get when purchasing the album:

The CD comes packaged with a 50-page perfect-bound book that is a set of extracts from a dossier of records, photos, regulations and images collected by Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg. The LP contains 2 bonus tracks & an MP3 download coupon (that includes the album + PDF of the dossier). (Note: LP pre-orders will ALSO receive a copy of the CD-sized perfect bound book.)

Serious researchers will have a way to obtain the actual, full-sized, full-color 73-page dossier in its special envelope ““ this will be announced soon, so keep your eyes on this space.

"This space" being, of course, Shearwater's page at Matador.

Enjoy the track, I know I will continue to for some time; it's absolute lovely with Jonathan's high notes and the foreground drums and bass hitting home instantly. These guys know their sound well. The song sounds hollow in some way, and I can't help thinking of Talk Talk here, the English 80s band that Shearwater covered when doing "The Rainbow". Still, the synths and the guitars in tune with the piano...lovely, I know I said it. Still, this is like coming home in a very good sense of the word. ((Gotta find those bird references, quick!))