The Mountain Goats return to Australia with upcoming album

Veteran indie-rock band The Mountain Goats will make their highly anticipated return to Australia and New Zealand next year.

The tour kicks off with performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide before landing at Freo.Social on Sunday, April 19. The band then heads over to New Zealand for the first time since 2010.

Fronted by songwriter and novelist John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats are known for their sprawling catalogue of 23 studio albums released between 1994 and 2023. This tour announcement coincides with the unveiling of album 24, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, which is set to release on Friday, November 7, via Cadmean Dawn Records.

The band gave fans a taste of the upcoming record with the release of lead single Armies Of The Lord yesterday (Tuesday, September 9).

Drawing on the cryptic phrasing of its title, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan tells the story of a small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three survivors are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions.

Produced by The Mountain Goats’ multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, the record features appearances from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, musical theatre royalty Lin-Manuel Miranda and the band’s new bassist Cameron Ralston.

The Mountain Goats have also announced a 20th Anniversary reissue of their 2005 fan-favourite album, The Sunset Tree, remastered at Abbey Road Studios. Additionally, John Darnielle is releasing This Year—365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days in December, which pairs the texts of 365 of his songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music, revealing how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them.

The Mountain Goats hit Freo.Social on Sunday, April 19, 2026, with their new album Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan out on Friday, November 7, 2025. Tickets are on sale Friday, September 12, from moshtix.com.au