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Jun 09, 2016 By Joshua M. Miller Wye Oak

Earlier this year, Wye Oak promised that they would release new material “sooner than you think.” Today they made good on that promise, announcing the release of new album Tween today and sharing the music video for first single “Watching the Waiting.” The album features eight songs that have bounced around for various reasons during the years between 2011’s breakthrough Civilian and 2014’s reinvention-of-sorts, Shriek. The record will also see physical release on August 5.

According to the album’s press release, the band saw “tween” not for its often awkward definition but rather something “in the process of becoming something else, and there’s a very specific kind of beauty in that becoming. There’s something rewarding in recognizing and celebrating it-in meeting it halfway.” Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack described these songs as “not emblematic of a step forward, but a step sideways in time.” They felt the songs didn’t really fit past or future albums, but together they fit.

Of the new video, Wasner writes: “This song is about learning how to understand and accept who I truly am, and present myself more honestly to the world, without any illusions or pretense. The truth is in the mirror, but it is also much, much deeper.” Co-directed by Ashley North Compton and Michael Patrick O’Leary, the video was shot in Baltimore and edited by Owen Lang. Compton described the inspiration behind the clip: “The mirror-hair girl-inspired somewhat by the Sutherland sisters, and the concept of external-internal individuation and connection-first originated as a painting and was brought to life to emulate the song’s momentum and drive.”

You can watch the video and check out the band’s tour dates below:

Wye Oak tour:

Jun 16 Hamden, CT - The Outer Space

Jun 17 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s

Jun 18 Providence, RI - Fete Lounge

Jun 19 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair

Jun 21 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw

Jun 22 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel

Jun 23 Baltimore, MD - The Ottobar

Jun 25 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge

Jun 26 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West

Jul 07 Albuquerque, NM - Low Spirits

Jul 08 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater

Jul 09 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge

Jul 10 Boise, ID - The Olympic Venue

Jul 11 Spokane, WA - The Bartlett

Jul 12 Seattle, WA - Neumos

Jul 13 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge

Jul 15 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

Jul 16 Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom

Jul 17 San Diego, CA - Casbah

Jul 18 Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom

Jul 29 Norman, OK - The Opolis

Jul 30 Kansas City, MO - Record Bar

Jul 31 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café

Aug 02 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall

Aug 03 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

Aug 04 Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch

Aug 05 Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace

Aug 06 Pittsburgh, PA - Club Café

Aug 07 Newport, KY - Southgate House Revival

Aug 09 Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall

Aug 10 Dallas, TX - Club Dada

Aug 11 Austin, TX - Mohawk

Sep 08 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival