The Walkmen – “We Can’t Be Beat” [SoundCloud Song Stream]

The Skinny: Fat Possum Records is pleased to release “We Can’t Be Beat,” the lead track from The Walkmen’s upcoming album Heaven, on May 29th. The record is the band’s sixth and was produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Shins, Band of Horses) in Seattle. The band just celebrated their 10th anniversary and are still comprised of the same members that started the group in 2001 – drummer Matt Barrick, multi-instrumentalist Pete Bauer, singer Hamilton Leithauser, guitarist Paul Maroon and bassist Walter Martin. The Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold sings harmonies on two songs on the record.

When describing Heaven, Leithauser portrays a band hitting maturity, comfortable in its mastery, after a decade together. “The detachment you can feel throughout our younger records is gone. We felt like it was time to make a bigger, more generous statement.” It’s been ten years since the Walkmen made their debut album, Everybody Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Heaven is a definitive statement of purpose and commitment, from a band at the peak of its powers that is finally winning the recognition it deserves.