Northeast jam act Dopapod has a busy fall coming in which they’ll release their fifth studio album, Megagem and will embark on an extensive cross-country tour. The quartet will follow a New Year’s Eve gig in Boston, where they started out, by taking a year off “to focus on themselves.”

Dopapod has been touring relentlessly for seven years and were inspired by a TED Talk about “The Power Of Taking Off” to take a sabbatical. “Every seven years this guy closes his design firm and everyone who works for the company works on their own projects for the year,” said keyboardist and singer/songwriter Eli Winderman. “When they come back, everyone is inspired and working with a newfound sense of excitement.”

The foursome recorded the instrumental portions of Megagem at the solar-powered Mountain Star Studios in Black Hawk, Colorado during the dead of winter. “The lack of oxygen led to some crazy ideas,” said guitarist Rob Compa. “When combined with the lack of phone service, human contact, or any other distractions, it allowed us to have the freedom to make a lot of that weird inspiration become reality.” Rob and Eli then added vocals at More Sound Recording Studios in Syracuse.

“A lot of these songs are also reactions to how the world is changing, about living your life in the present moment and the inner dialogues of the mind,” added Winderman. “Megagem could be the brain, or it could also be a cell phone, controlling your subconscious thoughts and, thus, changing your habits.. I think a lot of people are feeling this way because of the boost in technology, with everybody addicted and attached to their phones.”

“Megagem and the fall tour are our way of seeing everyone before we take some time to work on other parts of our lives,” explained Winderman. “In doing so, we hope the progress we make in our personal lives will cross over into Dopapod. From all of the other bands who we’ve come up with, to all of the music fans that have shown us such incredible support over the years, we just want to say thank you. Dopapod would be nothing without you.”

Watch the video for the first single off the LP, “Plaese Haalp”:

Megagem is available for pre-order via iTunes.