Pitchfork

Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff crams quite a dense, winding narrative into the first two minutes of this folky not-quite protest song about an imagined assassination. Running laps upon a lilting melodic line, he spends as much time detailing what he was doing at the time ("And the coffee was great/ There was spring in the wind") as he does exploring the socio-political implications of such an event ("The early obits/ Say he was a good man/ You can't argue with that/ Not today you can't/ Not now you can't"). For the last 45 seconds, the band breaks into a polite little jam, not exactly celebratory but by no means mournful.

Jagjaguwar will press this new tune onto a limited edition 12", backed with "The Room I'm Hiding In" and slated for release sometime before the end of this year. As previously reported, Okkervil River will wind across the U.S. next month on tour.