Five years on from the release of their previous record,åÊAustin art-rock punk mothertruckers ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of Dead return with their tenth album X: The Godless Void and Other Stories set for release on January 17, 2020 via Superball Music in Europe and Asia and Dine Alone Records in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Expansive yet concise, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories leans in and reaches forth.... From the synth-orchestral swell of curtain-raiseråÊopening crescendo that recalls Hans Zimmer and Tangerine Dream to All Who Wander, a descending guitar-soaked high drama that simmers underlying
despondence that crawls psychic.

Work on X: The Godless Void and Other Stories began in earnest in 2018, after Keely returned to the band's hometown of Austin following five years in Cambodia. That also marked a return to action for Trail Of Dead, with previous album IX having dropped in 2014 in that time, fellow founder member Jason Reece put time into other musical projects back in Texas while Keely released his solo record Original Machines (2016) and continued to spend time on his illustration work, as well as his long-gestating science fantasy novel Strange News From Another Planet.

As a result, the album sees Keely detailing Ì_Ì_ÌÂthe sadness of moving away from a place that I'd loved while also taking inspiration from Steven Pressfield's book The War Of Art to face his own demons regarding the creative process.åÊI feel likeåÊI'm writing pop musicåÊhe says,åÊIt's just not Top 20 pop. It's the pop music I wish was on the radio, the pop music I would've grown up with.

Keely's novel-in-progress also has a part to play, with some songs inspired by episodes in the book. Its stories echo across the band's albums dating back to Tao Of The Dead. It's a fantasy world his lyrics continuously return to, and a guarded secret that fans will have to wait for in order to see how both lyrics and artwork play into his grand scheme.

Appropriately, it all feels fresh, even with the band's 25th anniversary looming in 2020. When Conrad moved to Cambodia, we both had time to live our lives and do different things,Reece explains. Coming back to the band, there was a new vigor to it. It all feels exciting still.

1. The Opening Crescendo
2. All Who Wander
3. Something like This
4. Into the Godless Void
5. Don't look down
6. Gone
7. Children of the Sky
8. Who Haunts the Haunter
9. Eyes of the Overworld
10. Gravity
11. Blade of Wind
12. Through the Sunlit Door

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - X: The Godless Void And Other Stories