The War On Drugs debut release Wagonwheel Blues landed in our laps like a shimmering plate of all that is good in the world of American rock ‘n’ roll. We weren’t the only ones either as the album provoked words like “stunning,” “inspiring,” and “sublime” from Rolling Stone, Fader, Spin and more. Looking again at that space between the horizons, The War On Drugs makes another forecast, October 26 they bring you Future Weather. This album finds The War On Drugs once again at the blurred edges of American music: overexposing studio limitations, piling tape upon tape to maximum density, and then — with each song — they pull off the scaffolding to reveal what sticks, keeping only what’s absolutely necessary and dig into what sounds like the best kind of fucked up. As on their debut, Wagonwheel Blues, they take small moments occurring over multiple tapes and multiple song versions, and put every last drop of trust in their own instinct of momentum.

Future Weather is a provocative — sometimes playful, sometimes weighty — glimpse into The War On Drugs’ song-sculpting process, a process that remains a big mystery even to those on the inside. While some bands are content to merely pace the abyss, The War On Drugs coast through it.  And along the way, Future Weather sidesteps most every connotation associated with the EP format. There’s a true coalescence and symmetry here, one of wash and drone, of momentum and tone, but also of theme. Friendship, loyalty and keeping a group of spiritual brothers together are all themes that songwriter Adam Granduciel focuses in on for Future Weather. “Wondering where my friends are going / Wondering why they didn’t take me / Looking out the window of my room / Looking out where something once ran wild,” he sings on “Brothers” with a sense of soured peace, leaving out all the right things, leaving room in there for the shared experiences of your own friends. There are cues taken from our best American songwriters, yet The War On Drugs are wise enough to also implode or send themselves into outer space when the moment calls for it. The driving organ riff  that pushes “Baby Missiles” may be inspired by a fever dream of Springsteen or Dire Straits more than any particular jam. And the endless layers of guitar melody and atmospherics of “Comin’ Through,” rather than add weight to the vessel, only work to fill its sails with warmer and warmer winds. Future Weather will be available in stores October 26 (TBD in the UK). In the meantime, check out the first single “Comin’ Through” below. You can also catch The War On Drugs on tour this fall at select dates in the Eastern U.S. including an appearance at Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina September 9.

Download a track below: