News
2 August 2026 – Shearwater Opens Up a Bold New Chapter with The New World
By Editorial Team - August 2, 2026
Summary
Shearwater return with 'The New World', a nine-track independent album featuring Laurie Anderson, qanun, cello, and environmental fieldwork recordings.
Key Facts
- Shearwater release their first independent full-length album, 'The New World'.
- Features Laurie Anderson on the track 'You and Your Dog'.
- Album developed across four years of travel, environmental fieldwork, and atmospheric studio recording.
- Entities: Shearwater, The New World, Jonathan Meiburg, Laurie Anderson, Polyborus, Secretly Distribution
- Tags: shearwater, the-new-world, laurie-anderson, jonathan-meiburg, indie-rock, polyborus, secretly-distribution
Shearwater have returned with 'The New World', a nine-track album that feels simultaneously intimate, expansive and firmly connected to the uncertain world outside the studio. Released through the band’s own Polyborus label in partnership with Secretly Distribution, it is Shearwater’s first independently released full-length project after years of working with established labels in indie rock.
Jonathan Meiburg and his collaborators developed the record across four years of travel, fieldwork and recording sessions, allowing environmental observation and human anxiety to become part of its musical fabric. Songs such as 'Daydream Unbeliever,' 'More and More' and 'A Mink in the Dusk' use atmospheric rock arrangements to explore upheaval, survival and the search for something meaningful amid accelerating change. Laurie Anderson contributes her unmistakable voice to 'You and Your Dog,' while additional instrumentation includes cello, upright bass, saxophone, qanun and treated guitar. Shearwater are marking the album’s opening weekend with a free online listening party on 2 August, giving fans an opportunity to experience the record together and discuss its long creative journey with the band.