Crooked Fingers has released O deth, swet deth. The Eric Bachmann-led band is the first album under the moniker in nearly 15 years. Bachmann made the decision to reclaim the mantle of Crooked Fingers when the songs he was writing — all of them preoccupied, in some fashion, with death — called for collaborators. Beginning with drummer Jeremy Wheatley, the room in which Swet Deth came to life grew to include frequent collaborators Jon Rauhouse, Avery Leigh Draut, Skylar Gudasz, and Liz Durrett. The LP also includes The National’s Matt Berninger, who heard the chorus of the then in-process “From All Ways” and asked if he could sing it.

The track pushed Bachmann into new creative territory, leading him to ask for features from Sharon Van Etten (“Haunted”) and Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan (“Cold Waves”), giving new shape not just to the songs, but to the notion of what “Crooked Fingers” could be. Swet Deth is about the end of the line, yes, but it’s animated by the freedom Bachmann found in making it, a rave that isn’t ready for the grave.

Crooked Fingers
O deth, swet deth
Merge Records

1. Cold Waves
2. From All Ways
3. Spray Tan Speed Queen (In a German Car)
4. Insomnia
5. Empty Love and Cheap Thrills
6.Haunted
7. Hospital
8. (I’m Your) Bodhisattva
9. Lena
10. Steady Now

Order O deth, swet deth by Crooked Fingers HERE