Mac McCaughan Announces New Album ‘The Sound Of Yourself’ & Shares Single Featuring Yo La Tengo

Mac McCaughan (Superchunk/Portastatic) will release his second full-length album under his own name, The Sound Of Yourself, through his Merge Records label on September 24. McCaughan shared the album’s lead single, “Dawn Bends,” featuring Yo La Tengo and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster.

McCaughan began to work on The Sound Of Yourself in January 2021 at his home studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Among the others McCaughan enlisted to contribute to the record were vocalists Annie Hayden, Sabrina Ellis, Torres (Mackenzie Scott) and Telekinesis (Michael Benjamin Lerner). Wurster’s The Mountain Goats bandmate, saxophonist Matt Douglas, and McCaughan’s frequent collaborator, harpist Mary Lattimore, are also among those appearing on the album.

McCaughan detailed the time surrounding the making of the album and working with other artists, stating:

“Each day is blurring into the next, so what are we doing today?,” McCaughan said of the time surrounding the recording of the album. “How can I disrupt this? I think what resulted was a theme of subdued… ‘joy’ is the wrong word, but it’s at least comforting if not propulsive to have something open-ended to work on every day without any kind of structure or deadline or rules.

“I’m constantly inspired by the work of my peers. I feel lucky to be able to collaborate with them despite the distances between us. Sending off a song into the ether and having it returned greatly improved and in often surprising and moving ways was one of the most satisfying aspects of making this record.”

Stream “Dawn Bends” featuring Wurster and Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew below:

The Sound Of Yourself Tracklist

1. Moss Light
2. The Sound of Yourself
3. I Hear a Radio
4. 36 and Rain
5. Burn a Fax
6. Gen Ash
7. Circling Around
8. R Dream
9. Sleep Donor
10. Dawn Bends
11. Found Cricket