John Darnielle Dreams Up Another Excellent Album

The Mountain Goats. (Credit: Spence Kelly)

John Darnielle has explored “soft rock” and all of its modalities on recent albums. While his lyrical obsessions (survival, breaking free, and more) have persisted since he began recording under the Mountain Goats moniker more than 30 years ago, his music has changed from the lo-fi-voice-and-guitar-to-tape beginnings to something more sonically rich. But with new album Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan, out November 7, Darnielle investigates a different musical mode: the showtune.

The title, taken from a dream Darnielle had, serves as both a murky missive from the subconscious and a dedication to longtime bassist Peter Hughes, who recently left the Mountain Goats after more than 20 years of service. Featuring backing vocals from Lin-Manuel Miranda on four tracks, the album tells the story of survivors of a shipwreck on a remote island. As their resources dwindle, so does their grip on reality.

Darnielle has always painted his lyrics with an abstract brush, and those looking for a linear story à la Hamilton won’t find it here. We know there are three survivors: an unnamed narrator, the concussed and delusional captain Peter Balkan, and Adam, the ghostly end of the triumvirate who vanishes into the sea. But Darnielle, always a cryptic lyricist, presents us with a challenge to parse what is real and what is fantasy.

Freedom has long been a lyrical obsession for Darnielle. On “This Year” he sang, “I broke free on a Saturday morning,” while in “Isaiah 45:23” he wrote, “And I won’t get better but someday I’ll be free / Cause I am not this body that imprisons me.” He even wrote a song titled “Never Quite Free.” But as Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan ends with “Broken to Begin With,” Darnielle strikes a different tone as he sings about “the day we finally get free.” What other liberation is there from a deserted island than death? Is this what he’s been on about all these years?

Musically, Darnielle experiments even when some of the songs fall back into classic Mountain Goats arrangements. For example, the acoustic guitar-led “Rocks in My Pockets” could easily slot into The Sunset Tree. However, opening track “Overture” is fully instrumental, featuring instruments such as French horn and strings. Meanwhile, “Armies of the Lord” feels like that Broadway showstopper when the entire cast takes the stage before the end of an act. 

The record features Mountain Goats members Jon Wurster on drums and Matt Douglas (who also produced and arranged) on everything from woodwinds to keyboards. And while Cameron Ralston takes Hughes’ place on bass, Tommy Stinson of Replacements fame guests on “Cold at Night” and “Dawn of Revelation.” The Mountain Goats may have once been Darnielle alone, but more than 10 people play on this record. 

Though we are unlikely to see a stage version of Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan, Darnielle makes good on crafting a full-on soundtrack in many ways. He did call his prior album Jenny from Thebes (2023) a “fake musical.” However, there is nothing fake here. Just more heartfelt music from John Darnielle that challenges and surprises while aching to break free from the cages we make for ourselves.