New Pornographers Split With Mint For Challengers

After three albums, the marriage between The New Pornographers and Mint Records is over.

The band's The Fake Headlines email newsletter sent out on Friday said that their upcoming Challengers album will come out "on Matador Records for the world, excluding Canada. Stay tuned on who will be releasing it in Merry ol Canada."

Mint publicist Yvette Ray confirmed by email that Challengers won't come out through the label. The Vancouver company released the Pornographers' first three records — 2000's Mass Romantic, 2003's Electric Version and 2005's Twin Cinema — and the hometown group have become its biggest seller.

The newsletter said that Challengers is being mixed and "going better than expected." It also offered a look at the early album artwork designed by group member Neko Case. Though it's not the final version that will appear on the LP, the Pornographers will feature it on a screen-printed poster that will be sold at shows. Each poster will feature an individualized code that people can email to the band in return for a copy of Challengers that will be mailed out on its release date, which is expected sometime in August.

The Pornographers will play the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in Indio, California on Saturday, four U.K. shows in June and two U.S. concerts in July.