Dinosaur Jr. detail first new album in five years, There Near

There Near follows 2021's Sweep It Into Space, two live albums, and a 15th anniversary celebration of their 2009 album, Farm. Today, they reveal the first preview of the collection of songs, album opener "Several Got Away".

The single is accompanied by a Henry Darger, rapture-inspired music video, of which director Guy says: “I wanted to do something a little tongue-in-cheek with a kind of ‘backyard movie’ feel that could fit in nicely with the existing canon of Dinosaur Jr. music videos. The first bit of inspiration came from a great Henry Darger painting of kids being terrorised by two giant floating hands of fire. Then I got thinking about the rapture and it came together from there."

The album was made over the span of a year at Bisquiteen Studio, and was recorded almost entirely with the band's core members: singer-guitarist J Mascis, drummer Murph, and bassist Lou Barlow, with Ken Mauri on piano and organ.

Speaking about the lyrical inspiration behind the songs on There Near, Mascis keeps it simple: “I'm not always sure what a song is 'about' when I'm writing it. I guess the meaning will present itself at some point. I'll use whatever words work. And a lot of it will be influenced by whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I'm reading at the time. I try not to think too hard about any of it. I think it's a drag that Spotify shows all the lyrics to a song. What's the fun of that?."

There Near artwork

There Near tracklist

"Several Got Away"
"No Friends"
"Everything At Once"
"Take Me With You"
"Blowin’ Up"
"Gone Off"
"Clam Along"
"Walk Me Back"
"Read the Room"
"Put It Down"
"No One’s Ready"