Mating Ritual

You’ve probably heard a song the Mating Ritual brothers have written, even if you don’t know it. After amassing more than 150 million streams between their various bands and solo projects, prolific siblings Ryan Ritual and Suede James are back together after a 4-year break with Shangri-blah, their sixth and decidedly most “rock” record to date. Trading in synths and drum machines for acoustics and pedal steel, Shangri-blah is an epic album that touches on all the band’s established sounds while adding a few more to the canon.

Spending much of the recording process in California's Central Coast, the brothers chose the scenic locale and its many colorful lifestyles as inspiration for the album's sounds and themes. Mixed by Omar Yakar (The War On Drugs, Perfume Genius) and lyrics exploring the current state of wellness, the album is as lush and warm and cynical as the locale it was recorded. Welcome to Shangri-blah, baby.

Shangri-blah comes out June 13 via Smooth Jaws.