Joe Wong Announces New Album 'Mere Survival' & Shares Track With Matt Cameron, Mary Timony

Maximalist balladeer Joe Wong has announced Mere Survival, his sophomore album due February 22, 2024.

Written, performed, and produced by Wong, Mere Survival expands on the sonic palette of its predecessor, his critically-lauded 2020 debut album Nite Creatures, by incorporating other-worldly synthesizer and crusty electric guitars into his signature orchestral psychedelia.

Today, he also shares the album's lead single, “Into Nothing,” co-produced with guitarist Mary Timony (Helium, Wild Flag). “Into Nothing” features a multitude of textures, from the opening funky bass line into psychedelia-laced indie pop with a mid-song drum breakdown courtesy of Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden), followed by a spacey, horn-infused release.

"'Into Nothing' is about the futility of legacy building given the suicidal nature of our species,” notes Wong. “It resonates with a larger theme of the album--the same instincts that kept humanity alive for the majority of its existence are now leading us towards self annihilation.” 

The Los Angeles-based, Milwaukee-raised musician, film and television composer (Midnight Gospel, Russian Doll, Master of None) and podcaster (The Trap Set with Joe Wong) follows Nite Creatures with another adventure into the netherworld of loss, grief and technological oblivion.

Where lesser voyagers revel in the darkness, Wong finds wonder in the muck, spinning rare beauty into outsized songs of redemption and reconciliation. The ten bombastic tracks that make up Mere Survival are flashbangs of hope in the face of despair, a laser light show for all of us dwellers in the void. 

Guest musicians include Cameron, Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate), Jim Keltner (John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan), Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Anna Waronker (that dog.), Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think), Joey Waronker (Beck, REM) and a 30-piece orchestra. Mixer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) once again brings a shimmering heft to the proceedings. The album was recorded across the country including the iconic Capitol Studios in Hollywood, CA and the Foo Fighters' Studio 606. 

Mere Survival will be available on February 2, 2024.