New "Music" from The Books

New "Music" from The Books

The Books will be releasing a new album, The Way Out, their first in five years, on July 20. We've already heard the melodic electro-library-pop hit "Beautiful People", and now the band has released a new single, "A Cold Freezin' Night." 

The new single is a perfect example of the sound-byte style the duo has pioneered over the past decade. Their early work was heavy with samples and rarely featured melodic vocals. These samples were not just thrown together, however, but were artistically organized with intention behind each placement; sounds and rhythms of conversations, old home videos, and flight attendants swirled with precision around crisp electronic beats and the soft drawl of a cello. 

Over the years the band's sound shifted towards more conventional pop structures, leaving behind the more intricate sampling in favor of soft whispered vocals. With the release of "Beautiful People" a few months ago, I began to wonder if the pair had completely abandoned sound clips all together... but now we have "A Cold Freezin' Night"

The song is anchored by a repetitive sixteenth beat rhythm that is flavored with the sound of two children confessing their darkest feelings and...plans. Its pretty funny, and actually quite catchy. It will be interesting to see where the whole album goes; these first two songs bode well for the band's return to society. 

[mp3] The Books :: A Cold Freezin' Night

[mp3] The Books :: Beautiful People

Pre-order The Way Out, available July 20

See the album's track list after the jump

1. Group Autogenics I
2. IDKT
3. I Didn’t Know That
4. A Cold Freezin’ Night
5. Beautiful People
6. I Am Who I Am
7. Chain of Missing Links
8. All You Need Is A Wall
9. Thirty Incoming
10. A Wonderful Phrase By Gandhi
11. We Bought The Flood
12. The Story of Hip Hop
13. Free Translator
14. Group Autogenics II