They Might Be Giants have released a new song, Sleep’s Older Sister, ahead of their upcoming studio album due April 14.
The track arrived this week as an Idlewild Exclusive, available through the band’s webstore. It follows the recent single Wu-tang, both drawn from the group’s forthcoming 18-song album. The release marks the band’s first full-length project since BOOK, the Grammy-nominated 2021 record that returned the Brooklyn duo to the charts three decades after their breakthrough.
Sleep’s Older Sister leans into a hazier sound than the band’s recent work. John Linnell and John Flansburgh frame the song around surreal imagery involving sleep, mortality, and a crossing of the River Styx. Behind them, the band’s longtime rhythm section, drummer Marty Beller and bassist Danny Weinkauf, drive the arrangement through abrupt rhythmic shifts and a deliberately chaotic closing section.
The new album will arrive in several formats. Digital and standard physical editions will be released April 14 through the band’s official store and major streaming platforms. Independent record shops will receive an exclusive 180-gram coloured vinyl pressing three days later, on April 17.
They Might Be Giants formed in Brooklyn in 1982 and built an early following through college radio and their experimental Dial-A-Song phone service, which allowed listeners to call in and hear new recordings on an answering machine. Albums such as Lincoln and Flood established the group’s reputation for sharply written pop songs built around odd narratives and unconventional instrumentation, including John Linnell’s accordion.
The band will return to the road this spring with a run of multi-night engagements under the banner The Bigger Show Tour. The tour begins April 17 at the Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock, New York, and continues through cities including Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Boston.
Each stop on the tour will feature multiple nights in the same venue. The group plans to perform a different album from their catalogue during the first set of each show, followed by a second set that pulls from across their discography. The performances will use the “An Evening With” format, meaning no opening act and extended stage time for the band and their eight-piece lineup, which includes a three-piece horn section.
Tickets for all dates are currently on sale through the band’s official channels.
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