Blind Pilot Announce Third Album, Premiere New Song

Fans of the folk-pop group Blind Pilot will only have to wait a couple more months until their five-year musical drought will come to a close. The Portland six-piece, a 2009 Paste Best of What’s Next pick, announced on Facebook today that their third album, And Then Like Lions, will be released on Aug. 12 via ATO Records.

The first track, “Umpqua Rushing,” debuted on NPR Music today. It’s also the first song that singer Israel Nebeker wrote for the forthcoming release. The gentle track keeps time with the thumping drums, slowly and beautifully building, while Nebeker’s soft voice dreamily glides over the instruments.

Nebeker told NPR how this song is based on the Umpqua Forest in Oregon and the lost coast of Northern California. “It amazes me how places reveal themselves as significant to us by the stories we live in them,” he said. “They echo memories back to us when we visit or when we listen from afar. I like that, and it reminds me how the past isn’t finished with us.”

Listen to “Umpqua Rushing” via NPR Music here.