Today, alongside news of his first run of shows since 2019, Will Butler has released two new songs. “A Stranger’s House” / “Nearer to Thee” are available on all streaming platforms now, and watch Butler’s menacing video for “A Stranger’s House” below.

Butler’s last album was 2020’s Generations. Pick up your copy on CD, LP, and red splatter Peak Vinyl in the Merge store, or at one of Butler’s shows this summer. All dates will feature the Will Butler band of Sara Dobbs, Miles Francis, Jenny Shore, and Julie Shore. Get your tickets Friday at 10am local.

Will Butler on tour:
Aug 11 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Aug 12 Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
Aug 13 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Aug 14 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
Aug 19 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Made
Aug 20 Washington, DC – DC9
Aug 21 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s

Lyrics to “A Stranger’s House:

Relaxing in a stranger’s house
I thought to myself, what an easy life—
But when the sirens shifted near
they sang from my mind
that pale desire—

I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be next to you tonight.
I’d rather be next to you tonight.

Compare to this a perfect line
beyond two points
in an endless plane—
So simple and so infinite
even I can grasp
with my stupid mind—

I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be next to you tonight.
I want to be next to you tonight.

If I could find a stranger’s house
in the long sunlight
of a silent world
protected by a wall of life
from any broken thing at all—

I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be next to you tonight.
I’d rather be next to you tonight.

I’d rather be with you tonight.
I’d rather be with you tonight.
I want to be next to you tonight.
I want to be next to you tonight.

…if I didn’t have to drive
I would love to close my eyes—