Okkervil River has performed with legendary Texan Roky Erickson for the past two years running at SXSW, but if you haven’t yet had the funds or inclination for Austin, the amazing collaboration can be heard come spring, when True Love Cast Out All Evil is released (Via Paste).
This is Erickson’s first album of new material in 14 years, and made up of, according to Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff (who produced the album), “the best songs Roky has ever written, unreleased due to decades plagued by the kind of personal tragedies that would destroy someone less resilient.”
Erickson has battled both mental illness and legal troubles over the last few decades, including a stint at Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, electroconvulsive therapy, and being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. A documentary on his life, You’re Gonna Miss Me, screened at SXSW in 2005, which was also the same year Erickson performed his first full-length set in 20 years.
In addition to Sheff producing True Love…, Okkervil River serves as the backing band on the album, which is out April 20 via Anti-.
Here’s a clip of the crew at Toy Joy in Austin, TX.
