Back at the beginning of last month Shearwater announced the release of a new record, Animal Joy, through Sub Pop. The release date is soon upon us and we've got a track from it for you to hear, in advance of the album's release. The track in question is 'You As You Were' and you can get your ears around it below, via that SoundCloud player. You can also download it from here.

It's kind of what you'd expect from Shearwater. But that is absolutely OK because Jonathan Meiburg's voice is something else, and Shearwater's music is quite like nothing else around. To my ears, in any case. It careens quite lovely, so it does. The band are heading this way in the Spring, and we've handily compiled a list of their tour dates. See below:

March:
28 - Amsterdam, Bitterzoet
29 - Brussels, Botanique
30 - Brighton, The Haunt
31 - Manchester, The Deaf Institute

April:
1 - Glasgow, Stereo
3 - London, Scala
4 - Tourcoing, Le Grand Mix
5 - Paris, La Maroquinerie
6 - Düdingen, Bad Bonn
8 - St. Gallen, Palace
9 - Mezzago, Bloom
10 - Rome, Circolo degli Artisti
11 - Ravenna, Bronso, Madonna dell'albero
12 - Ljubljana, Menza pri Koritu
16 - Dresden, Groove Station
17 - Hamburg, Prinzebar
18 - Berlin, Comet
19 - Istanbul, Babylon
21 - Athens, AN Club

Main photo by Guus Krol