Along with being announced today to take part in Noise Pop Festival 2019, legendary Hüsker Dü and Sugar guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Bob Mould has announced a new upcoming solo record, titled Sunshine Rock, due February 88th via Merge Records. To get fans salivating even more, he has included in the announcement the title track as the lead single.

“Almost four years ago, I made plans for an extended break,” Mould said in a press release. “I started spending time in Berlin in 2015, found an apartment in 2016, and became a resident in 2017. My time in Berlin has been a life changing experience. The winter days are long and dark, but when the sun comes back, all spirits lift.”

The new LP will be following up 2016’s Patch the Sky, and will be the fourth consecutive album where he plays alongside an excellent rhythm section of Jon Wurster on drums and Jason Narducy on bass. And on five of the songs, apparently he worked with an 18-piece orchestra, including a cover of “Send Me a Postcard” by the ’60s Dutch psych rockers Shocking Blue.

The title track and lead single is also the opener for the album, and does an excellent job of bringing in those aforementioned string arrangements without feeling too out of place. “‘Sunshine Rock’ was such a bright, optimistic song, and once that came together, I knew that would be the title track, and that really set the tone for the direction of the album,” Mould explained. “It was funny, because writing with that as the opener in mind, it was like, ‘This is not Black Sheets Of Rain.'”

“To go from [2011 autobiography] See A Little Light to the last three albums, two of which were informed by loss of each parent, respectively, at some point I had to put a Post-It note on my work station and say, ‘Try to think about good things,'” Mould continued to say about the album as a whole. Otherwise I could really go down a long, dark hole. I’m trying to keep things brighter these days as a way to stay alive.”

Mould has also announced a large tour in 2019 in support of the record. Check out the full list of tour dates below.

Bob Mould Tour Dates
02/14: Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
02/15: Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
02/16: Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
02/18: Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/19: Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls
02/21: New York, NY – Brooklyn Steel
02/22 & 23: Chicago, IL – Metro
02/25: Ft. Collins, CO – Washington’s
02/26: Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
03/01: Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
03/02: San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
03/30: Minneapolis, MN – The Palace
03/31: St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
04/02: Dallas, TX – Granada
04/03: Austin, TX – Mohawk
04/05: Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
04/06: Seattle, WA – Neumos
04/07: Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw