Trail Of Dead Contemplate New Album And Life On The Road

Texas rock outfit ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have completed work on their third Interscope album at their Mob House studio in Austin in preparation for an Oct. 3 release.

The still untitled new record follows closely on the heels of Trail Of Dead's 2005 effort, Worlds Apart,, which was actually finished in 2004 but delayed to make room for higher profile releases on Universal's schedule. To date, the album has sold less than half the units of its predecessor, 2002's Source Tags And Codes.

Trail Of Dead main man Conrad Keely recently told Billboard.com that he was almost ready to give up after the disappointing performance of Worlds Apart.

"I put everything I had into that record, and recording it was a miserable ordeal. After its reception I was pretty much ready to retire from music and find another career, convinced that I wanted nothing more to do with making music for anyone. But when we started this new album, which was meant to be an EP, I had a different attitude. Mainly, I tried not to care at all, and approach it with a more 'I don't give a fuck' outlook."

In an effort to add some diversity to the new record, Trail Of Dead asked some outside musicians to lend their vocal talents to the project. The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer makes a guest appearance, as do members of the Austin band Brothers & Sisters.

Keely described one of the album's tracks, "Wasted State Of Mind," as being based around a Tahitian drum rhythm. The drum parts for the song were later re-recorded by King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto.

Despite Keely's confidence in Trail Of Dead's work, he remains skeptical about how well the band fits in to music's digital age.

"We write albums, or things that are meant to be listened to from cover to cover, side A to side B," he explained. "But we don't live in that age — that age is over.

"I'm as much a victim of disposable culture as anyone else, and my attention span has been shattered as so many shards of glass, with no hope of regaining focus. Our culture is just as fragmented. I think the schizophrenic tone of our new album reflects that."

Plans for a tour in conjunction with the new disc haven't yet been solidified, but it's rumoured that Trail Of Dead will hit the road this fall with The Blood Brothers. Keely admitted that the band will likely play a lot of older material because they'll be without the new album's guest vocalists.