Austin glam-punk quintet A Giant Dog are excited to announce their forthcoming record—an ambitious concept album titled Bite—due August 25, 2023, via Merge Records. Pre-order Bite on CD, LP, and limited-edition antifreeze green Peak Vinyl from the Merge store!

With the news comes the album’s first single “Different Than” which is available now on all streaming platforms. With its steadfast refrain of “That’s what makes me different than him,” vocalist Sabrina Ellis gives us not only some insight into the album’s expansive narrative, but also a glorious rallying cry for the real world.

In contrast to what fans have grown to expect from this rough-and-rowdy crew, Bite is an intricately constructed concept album, a dense tale about its protagonist’s ultimately tragic days in a “virtual utopia” called Avalonia. New sounds and textures abound, including, most notably, sumptuous string arrangements. Fans eager to learn more about the narrative and its many themes—among them gender dysphoria and the inherent dangers of virtual reality—need not fear, because the band has completed a full-fledged screenplay to support it.

“Within our previous albums, the subject matter, the lyrics are all very personal, based on our experiences—self-centered, even,” Ellis explains. “In making this conceptual album, we had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs. The songs aren’t demonstrative as in musical theater. Instead, the songs are heated moments, internal expressions that stand on their own.”

Since forming in Austin in 2008, A Giant Dog has drawn in audiences worldwide with their joyfully anarchic performances and gritty, playfully incisive recordings. Though the Texas band has already carved out a totally distinct niche with their existing works, it feels as though they’ve finally found themselves after recording a concept album in rural France. With lore as packed as it comes—points if you can spot all the Radiohead references and name all the monsters—and a cadre of global devotees of their freight train of a sound, this year finds A Giant Dog truly primed to withstand the glare of the international spotlight.