Dinosaur Jr. have announced their first album in five years, There Near, arriving August 28 via Jagjaguwar. The band also released the new single “Several Got Away,” paired with a Guy-directed music video, alongside details on the record’s production, influenc
For a lot of fans, Dinosaur Jr. don’t really “disappear.” But five years between albums leaves a gap you can feel—one you could finally hear closing the moment the band came back with a date, a title, and a new single.
Today, Dinosaur Jr. announced their first album in five years, There Near, arriving August 28 via Jagjaguwar. It follows their 2019 record, Sweep It Into Space. The lead-off release is the new single “Several Got Away,” now paired with a Guy-directed music video.
“I wanted to do something a little tongue-in-cheek with a kind of ‘backyard movie’ feel that could fit in nicely with the existing canon of Dinosaur Jr. music videos,” Guy said in a press release. His inspiration started with “a great Henry Darger painting of kids being terrorised by two giant floating hands of fire. ” before he says he moved from there into ideas about rapture—watching how those thoughts “came together.”.
He also described the practical reality of making the video: “The guys were really game for it all and I was honoured that they let me chase them around a big field with my camera like a psycho.” The shoot. he added. came with a “tight schedule” and a fast learning curve—enough that he had to pick up a lot of VFX work “over the course of weekend.” Still. he said. “I like the way the effects all turned out.”.
There Near was made in short bursts over the course of a year at Amherst’s Bisquiteen Studio. Most of the record was recorded by the band’s core trio—Murph, Lou Barlow, and J Mascis—with piano and organ work by Ken Mauri.
On the sound, Mascis points to an amp choice that’s less about novelty and more about recapture. “Throughout the record. Mascis can be heard playing through a recently acquired 70’s Mesa Boogie MK 1 amp.” He explained that he bought “the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album.” In Mascis’s telling. Dixon recorded the band at his house with that amp. and it carries a specific character he hasn’t heard in a while.
“I bought the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album,” Mascis said. “Chris recorded us at his house with his amp. It has a real interesting sound I haven’t gotten for a while. And it’s something I was trying to get back to on this album.”
He connected the choice to rock history. pointing out how “The Stones started using Mesa Boogies in the ’70s after they heard Santana playing through them. ” and how “The Clash copied The Stones. etc.” Over time. he said. the Mesa Boogie line shifted toward sounds that “got more metal sounding” with the move into the MK 2 and so on. But the MK 1, he argues, sits closer to the tone he wanted: “But the MK 1 has a souped-up Fender sound.”.
Mascis also framed the amp decision through the kind of studio discipline he associates with Rick Rubin: “You always hear how Rick Rubin always makes bands he’s producing sit down and listen to their first album and say let’s get back to that sound. So I just gave myself his advice.”
Even the way he thinks about words reflects that same refusal to over-engineer the process. On his lyrical approach. Mascis said: “I’m not always sure what a song is ‘about’ when I’m writing it. I guess the meaning will present itself at some point. I’ll use whatever words work.” He adds that the writing is shaped by whatever he’s reading at the time. including “whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I’m reading at the time. ” and that he tries “not to think too hard about any of it.”.
There’s a sharper edge to his stance too—directed at the modern streaming experience. “I think it’s a drag that Spotify shows all the lyrics to a song. What’s the fun of that?”
If the record sounds like it’s reaching backward to recover a particular kind of electricity, the tracklist suggests it’s also built to move forward through momentum and abrasion. There Near’s tracklist is:
1. Several Got Away
2. No Friends
3. Everything At Once
4. Take Me With You
5. Blowin’ Up
6. Gone Off
7. Clam Along
8. Walk Me Back
9. Read the Room
10. Put It Down
11. No One’s Ready
There Near Cover Artwork: There Near Cover Artwork.
Dinosaur Jr There Near Jagjaguwar Several Got Away Guy directed music video Bisquiteen Studio Murph Lou Barlow J Mascis Ken Mauri Mesa Boogie MK 1 alternative rock album announcement music news
Wait August 28 like the day? Is it a tour too or just the album drop?
I swear they never disappeared, they’re just in the background like always. Also “Several Got Away” sounds like a song about… getting away from dinosaurs??
Guy directed it, and he was chasing them around a field like a psycho?? That’s honestly the most relatable part. But Henry Darger?? I don’t even know who that is, sounds like something my cousin would post with no context.
Five years between albums is crazy, like did they just take a break or get lost in outer space? Jagjaguwar too, so it’s gonna be indie weird I guess. The part about VFX work over the weekend is wild though, because how do you even do VFX that fast, unless they already had it planned… right? Also I skimmed and thought it said “rapture” like actual church stuff, not the video vibe. Whatever I’m still gonna listen.