Following their recent single release “The Drifter Returns,” Clutch have made their own full-fledged return with the announcement of their latest album. Announced yesterday, Wasted Lands will mark the Maryland based rock band’s fourteenth studio album and is set to release at the start of the new year. With this announcement also came the release of the album’s title track, complete with a video. The video can be found on the band’s YouTube channel.

Featuring the band in rather formal attire and set in a mixture of lavish and ominous backgrounds, the track immediately opens with loud, groovy energy. Similar to the last single, the track appears to be describing a strange character, this time with the person in question being built up as a seedy and scary individual. Expanding on the song’s origins, frontman Neil Fallon explained in a comment “The inspiration for the lyrics in Wasted Lands came about when it was brought to my attention that someone had been dragging my name on FaceBook (weird, right?). Apparently, I had reneged on a free t-shirt and dinner. I think it was a prize in a pay to play contest. Not to overstate the obvious, but it was a load of horse hockey. Many people tried to explain to this person that it was not me and that they had been hustled. But they simply would not believe it. So I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let’s give you one.”

The title track comes as the eleventh song off the full album, which is set to be released on January 22th, 2027. The aforementioned and previously released “The Drifter Returns” also marks the opening track to Wasted Lands.