J Mascis has announced his fifth solo album. February 2nd, 2024 will see the release of What Do We Do Now, worldwide on Sub Pop Records. Recorded at his studio Bisquiteen in Western Massachusetts, What Do We Do Now is Mascis’ first solo album that features full drum and electric leads, although the rhythm parts are still all acoustic.
What Do We Do Now began to come together during the waning days of the pandemic. Utilizing his own Bisquiteen Studio, Mascis started working on writing a series of tunes on acoustic with a different dynamic than the stuff he creates for Dinosaur Jr. ‘When I’m writing for the band,” he says, “I’m always trying to think of doing things Lou and Murph would fit into. For myself, I’m thinking more about what I can do with just an acoustic guitar, even for the leads. Of course, this time, I added full drums and electric leads, although the rhythm parts are still all acoustic. Usually, I try to do the solo stuff more simply so I can play it by myself, but I really wanted to add the drums. Once that started, everything else just fell into place. So it ended up sounding a lot more like a band record. I dunno why I did that exactly, but it’s just what happened.‘
The star-strewn official video for What Do We Do Now’s lead single, ‘Can’t Believe We’re Here‘, features appearances from J and a few of his friends and foes.
The album tracklisting is as follows:
- Can’t Believe We’re Here
- What Do We Do Now
- Right Behind You
- You Don’t Understand Me
- I Can’t Find You
- Old Friends
- It’s True
- Set Me Down
- Hangin Out
- End Is Gettin Shaky