The Mountain Goats: Get Lonely

Label: 4AD

The Mountain Goats have become so popular in recent years that many don’t realize that John Darnielle, the band’s leader (and often its lone member), has been at this for quite some time, creating a vast catalog of more than 400 songs dating back to the early 1990s, when he was releasing albums on cassette only. And it was only until recently that Darnielle, signed to 4AD and teamed with expert producer John Vanderslice, began changing the overall sound of his records, adding more instrumentation and using the studio to maximum effect. Many of his previous recordings were just Darnielle and a guitar recorded on his department-store boombox, and Get Lonely harkens back to that period a bit. It’s a spare, haunting and beautiful follow-up to last year’s triumphant Sunset Tree. Darnielle’s voice is front and center, with the occasional flourishes of guitar, piano and strings. Get Lonely centers around a protagonist, lost in a new environment, struggling with community and identity. As always, the album is lyrically masterful, but it’s the subdued tone that will garner most attention. It’s a quiet record, to be sure, but Darnielle, ever the craftsmen, never deprives of melody, creating an album that’s every bit as enjoyable as it is poignant.