Shearwater’s new album The New World will be released on 31st July 2026 via the band’s own Polyborus label in partnership with Secretly Distribution. In the past quarter-century, Shearwater slyly became a distinctive, consistent and adventurous American band. The New World’s nine songs find the group farther afield than ever: the album’s supporting cast includes instrumental wizard Shahzad Ismaily, saxophonist and clarinettist Doug Wieselman, qanunist Farouz Zriek, guitarist Leo Abrahams, ngonist Mamadou Kouyate, percussionists Mahamadou Tounkara and Moctar Kouyate (of Malian group Ngoni Ba), and drummer Thor Harris.
The New World is also something of an artistic risk. After releasing six albums with Sub Pop and Matador Records, Shearwater chose to crowdfund, produce, and release the album themselves with the help of Secretly Distribution, distilling it from four years of travelling, fieldwork, and collaboration. It was recorded in London, Berlin, New York, and the band’s Texas headquarters, with Duszynski as chief engineer and additional production by Leo Abrahams and Danny Reisch; Reisch mixed the album with the band in Los Angeles. You can pre-save /pre-order The New World here.
Shearwater have released Slugs In The Marigolds, as the latest single. The track –with a video directed by Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg and Jason Benson begins mid-stride, as if we’ve just found the band playing in an empty warehouse; featured woodwind legend Doug Wieselman’s saxophone summons the ghost of Roxy Music. “This was a band favourite on The New World,” Meiburg says. “We liked how its loose, sunny feeling plays against the lyric – and we loved how Doug’s sax slithers up beside you.”
The track’s playful video finds the Shearwater singer giving a friendly banana slug the trip of a lifetime. “This was one of those rare videos where everything just fell into place. The idea came to me on a walk in the woods, near the spot where I found our slug hero. Forty-eight hours later, after a grand day out with photographer Jason Benson, I put the slug right back where they came from, with a little extra lettuce to chew on. It’s my favourite Shearwater video since Quiet American” says Meiburg.
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