The New Pornographers’ highly anticipated new album “The Former Site Of” is due to be released on 27th March 2026 on Merge Records. “The Former Site Of” is the tenth studio album from the indie supergroup once dubbed the “Vancouver Underground and Neko.” It comprises ten short stories of people at personal and societal extremes presented as meticulously crafted pop songs. The record was first crafted by Carl (AC) Newman in his home studio before being brought to the band. The current New Pornographers comprises Newman, Kathryn Calder, Neko Case, John Collins and Todd Fancey. The band is joined for the first time by session drummer Charley Drayton (Divinyls, The Rolling Stones, Fiona Apple). Josh Wells (Destroyer, Black Mountain) will join as the touring drummer for the band’s upcoming North American dates in the Spring. No UK or European dates have been announced yet.
Of the making of the album, Newman says: “Having time in my studio really opened things up. I don’t like wasting my bandmates’ time and always felt guilty when I’d give them a song, ask them to do something, then completely change the song and ask them to do it again. Now I can get the skeleton of a song together first – just a couple of elements, the key feeling, really as little as possible – before bringing it to the band and running from there.”
The album features the group’s most recent single, ‘Ballad Of The Last Payphone’, which is available as a limited 7-inch vinyl first release. Paste named it one of their Best New Songs: “‘Ballad Of The Last Payphone’ hits a different kind of nerve. Less giddy power-pop, more slow-burn meditation, the track leans into melancholy with acoustic strums, ghostly pedal steel, and vocals that swirl like a memory you can’t quite shake.”.
“The First Site Of” is available for pre-order via both the Merge and the band’s webstore. As is the way of things there are exclusive “Mai Tai” LP and the exclusive “Spilled Ink” LP variants
in celebration of the upcoming release, the band is debuting the album track ‘Votive’ alongside a new video. Built around the sound of frontperson Newman’s mandolin, ‘Votive’ builds from an atmospheric synth and keyboard opening into a wide-open jam. The video, animated by Michael Arthur, draws on the imagery of Newman’s lyrics alongside his and keyboardist/vocalist Kathryn Calder’s hooky refrain, “I didn’t see you there.”
