The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle Talks About His “Found Poem” of a New Album

The strands and building blocks that comprise the DNA of any given songwriter can involve just about anything. Perhaps it’s nostalgia and affection, or sincerity and abundance, or superheroes and daydreams. For John Darnielle, founder and principal songwriter for the indie rock band The Mountain Goats, it starts primarily with literature and camaraderie, though a dash of late-night TV and movies are sprinkled in healthily, as well. Such is the stuff that comprises Darnielle’s career with the group he founded some three decades and twenty-plus albums ago. More recently, the musician-turned-best-selling novelist has given his attention to a new LP—Bleed Out, which is set to drop on Friday (August 19)—one he wrote quickly, he says, but that boasts some of his best material to date. For Darnielle, that’s the beauty of creativity and, more specifically, of music. It’s versatility. It’s a language unto itself that offers even much more than that. It’s emotive and lush, fulfilling and inspiring. It’s who he is, which has been the case since his first record player at five years old.