The falsetto of Eric D. Johnson shines invitingly throughout the folk-rock of Fruit Bats’ Merge debut Gold Past Life, due worldwide on June 21. This self-described “rustic Bee Gees” sound is executed masterfully on the album’s title track which premieres today. It’s a song about rejecting notions of idealized nostalgia—in Johnson’s own words, “love and fate and the meaningless random brutal nature of the universe. Y’know, small stuff and big stuff!”

Gold Past Life features more keyboard influences than prior Fruit Bats outings, and a range of guests including Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore, Vampire Weekend), Neal Casal (Circles Around the Sun), Trevor Beld Jimenez and Tim Ramsey (Parting Lines), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), and more. It also sees his working relationship with producer and engineer Thom Monahan (Neko Case, Peter Bjorn & John, Devendra Banhart) hit its stride.

With Gold Past Life, Johnson hopes to bring more immediacy to Fruit Bats and share positivity, hope, and motivation to keep on keepin’ on with a wider audience. “Fruit Bats makes existential make-out music,” he describes with a chuckle. “But you’re also welcome to dive into it deeper if you want. Good pop music should be sublime like that.”

Pre-order Gold Past Life in the Merge store on CD, LP, and opaque aqua Peak Vinyl, the latter of which includes a bonus 7-inch containing non-album tracks “Shane” and the previously released “Getting in a Van Again.” Fruit Bats will indeed be getting in a van again this summer for a tour that includes stops at Johnson’s curated Huichica Fest in California and our birthday party festival, MRG30, in North Carolina.

Fruit Bats on tour:
Jun 7–8 Sonoma, CA – Huichica Fest
Jun 21 Santa Barbara, CA – SOhO
Jun 22 Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
Jul 13 Mount Salon, VA – Red Wing Roots Music Festival
Jul 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (MRG30)
Jul 26 Washington, DC – Union Stage
Jul 27 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Aug 1–4 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
Aug 08 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Aug 09 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
Aug 10 Indianapolis, IN – HiFi
Aug 11 Lexington, KY – Railbird Festival