Monsters of Folk – the acclaimed band comprised of Louisville’s own Jim James /Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward, Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) – are celebrating the 15th anniversary of their self-titled, one and only album with an expanded new edition, arriving June 14 via ATO Records. Five previously unreleased songs are included in the release. The extra tracks feature Will Johnson of Centro-Matic. The band shared the first preview with the song “Disappeared.” Listen below:
“Making this album brought me back to the same feelings I had when I first started a band, or first started playing music in general – there’s a real simplicity and excitement to playing with folks you don’t normally play with,” says Jim James. “The spirit of play is alive on this whole thing.”
“Debut records have a freedom that can’t be matched, because there’s no history to work from,” says M. Ward. “I just hear the four of us following wherever the songs seem to be leading us.”
“It was amazing to have a ringside seat for the way Jim and M make records,” says Connor Oberst. “Jim’s outside-the-box knack for soul and harmony and M’s sense of space and songcraft were so inspiring and invaluable to me then, and continue to be to this day.”
“I feel like it really expanded my way of thinking about music, and my thinking in general,” James says. “It was so special to create with artists that I respect so much—to come into the project from a place of already loving so many of their songs and their outlook on the world, and then feel the whole experience opening me up to life in such a fresh and beautiful way.”
“That session was very much kept in the moment,” says Will Johnson. “I remember looking over at Jim playing drums on ‘Disappeared,’ joyfully bashing away, and it harbored that same exuberance of starting your first band: that moment in the garage where things take flight, and the energy and happiness just lead you onward.”
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