Just a month ago, Mount Moriah released a new three-song seven-inch that featured two new songs and a recording of “Plane” from the band’s 2013 set at the Hopscotch Music Festival. It seemed as though a full-length album announcement was imminent, and as of today, it’s here.
How to Dance, the band’s third LP, will be available on February 26, 2016, three years and two weeks since the band’s last album, 2013’s tremendous Miracle Temple. You can listen to “Cardinal Cross” via Soundcloud below.
The tune begins with Heather McEntire mumbling a refrain that you can barely make out before she breaks straight through into the body of the song. As with “Calvander,” “Cardinal Cross” features a horn section that stays in the background. It’s once again a welcome addition, giving a rounder edge to the song’s sharp and short guitar riffs.
McEntire has a particular skill with her songwriting, blending confidence and uncertainty in equal and elegant measure. Her songs are intensely emotional and personal but resonate to larger themes, and “Cardinal Cross,” this comes through even stronger. Her lyrics here read more like a riddle than they ever have before (including references to a centaur), but they don’t lose their striking power. “Are you the woman you wanted to be?/The inner is outer, the inner is free!” she sings, giving you a lot to consider even if you don’t identify as feminine.
