An indie rock guitarist and a string quartet may seem like an unlikely marriage. However, when the guitarist is Bryce Dessner, and the strings are provided by the Kronos Quartet…well, that’s a little different. Their album Aheym is now set for a November release.

The phrase “string quartet” conjures images of concert halls, stiffly starched shirts, and classical-with-a-capital-C music. The Kronos Quartet does play in concert halls, and we have no reports on the condition of their shirts, but strictly classical they are not. The San Francisco group has covered every musical genre, and collaborated with artists ranging from beat-poetry godfather Allen Ginsberg to Nelly Furtado. The National are also on that list, which makes their next partner a bit less of a surprise.

Bryce Dessner is best known for his time with The National, but, like the Kronos Quartet, he has always shown complete willingness to jump genres. Aheym finds him picking up the metaphorical baton and garnering his first credited appearance as a composer. It’s hard to tell you what to expect from a partnership like this, but, if you’re anything like us, it’s always nice to have a guarantee of excitement from a string quartet. Track listing follows.

Aheym
01. Aheym
02. Little Blue Something
03. Tenebre
04. Tour Eiffel