When we found out that during the making of Shearwater’s new album, Animal Joy, “No strings or glockenspiels were touched” we reasonably wondered what kind of sound they might be moving towards. Our first taste, “Breaking the Yearlings,” gives us the first part of our answer: rocking and percussion-heavy. The son g is not entirely new material for the band who had a penchant for the odd rock out on Palo Santo, but their last two albums have been rather delicate affairs, so it’s nice to see them shift in sound again. The multi-tracked vocals at the end are also a stroke of genius. After all, is there anyone in indie rock with a better voice than Jonathan Meiburg? I’m not so sure.

Check out “Breaking the Yearlings” via the widget below.

Animal Joy is set for release on February 14th through Sub Pop.