Yo La Tengo share improvisational new track, “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism…”

Yo La Tengo have launched a new Bandcamp page, and as of right now there’s only one item on it: A new track titled “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds.” It’s an improvisational, ambient instrumental track with (Monday) in parentheses, which could suggest that more daily releases are on deck.

Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan said this about the track: “If you’ve spent any time hanging out with us at our rehearsal space in Hoboken—that pretty much covers none of you—you’ve heard us playing formlessly (he said, trying to sidestep the word ‘improvising’). Most of the songs we’ve written in the last 25 years have begun that way, but often we do it for no other reason than to push away the outside world.

“In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resumed . . . ‘practicing’ hardly describes it, because we’ve done no practicing per se, and anyway what would be practicing for . . . playing. James set up one microphone in the middle of the room in case we stumbled on something useful for the future. Instead we decided to release something we did right now.” Hear “James and Ira Demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds below.”

Yo La Tengo’s last album was 2018’s There’s a Riot Going On.

Read our feature, The everyday mystery of Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out