There’s something quietly radical about a band that looks aging square in the face and responds with a cowbell.
El Ten Eleven — the legendary post-rock duo of bassist Kristian Dunn and drummer Tim Fogarty — just dropped their new single Formerly Fresh, and it’s exactly the kind of track that makes you remember why this band has been one of the most quietly essential names in instrumental music for over two decades. The song is the latest taste of their upcoming album ‘Nowhere Faster,’ out April 10th on Joyful Noise Recordings, and honestly? It slaps.
The title is self-aware in the best way. “The title is us poking fun at how old we are getting,” Dunn admits. But here’s the twist — everything you hear on the track (outside of drums) comes from a fretless acoustic bass guitar, loaded up with effects. That’s it. That’s the whole sonic palette. And somehow it sounds enormous. Side B Is All Acoustic — And That Changes Everything.
‘Nowhere Faster’ is El Ten Eleven’s 11th full-length record and 16th release overall. For a band that’s been doing this since 2003, that kind of output could easily tip into formula. Instead, they’ve structured the album almost like a vinyl-era experience: Side A leans on Dunn’s usual electric bass arsenal, while Side B — including Formerly Fresh — goes fully acoustic, processed through pedals to create something warmer, stranger, and more vulnerable.
The move pays off. Formerly Fresh shifts between buoyant, string-driven swells and quieter moments built on barely more than bass and shaker. It doesn’t try to be young. It is what it is — experienced, a little weathered, completely confident — and that’s what makes it compelling.
An Album Built on Velocity and Unease.
The full record, ‘Nowhere Faster,’ takes its name seriously. Across eight tracks, it wrestles with the strange human urge to keep accelerating even when you’re not sure where you’re headed. Think: momentum without direction. Speed mistaken for progress. We’ve all been there.
What makes this album feel fresh is how much risk El Ten Eleven are still willing to take. Opener Uncanny Valley Girl digs into AI-era paranoia, stacking bass lines into a dense, immersive wall of sound. Björk’s Alarm Clock — a title born from an insult a punk guitarist threw at the band on their very first tour — turns the slight into something buoyant and playful. Last Night In The Kitchen apparently goes full sleazy Bond theme energy, which we are extremely here for.
And then there’s the closer, So It Goes — a nod to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Dunn’s own reckoning with aging, loss, and friends who are no longer here. Built around a capo on a fretless acoustic bass (yes, that’s a thing), it drifts into twangy Americana-inflected territory. It sounds like what 3am feels like when the quiet catches up to you.
23 Years In, Still Swinging
The record also features real strings and piano for the first time — a new color on a canvas that was already rich. Dunn reportedly wrote parts for two drummers, pushing Fogarty to some of the most demanding work of his career. The production comes courtesy of Sonny DiPerri (who’s worked with acts like Porches and Animal Collective), giving the album a sound that’s intimate and expansive all at once.
If ‘Nowhere Faster’ is about reckoning — with time, with mortality, with the weird act of continuing to make art as the ground shifts under you — then Formerly Fresh is its most honest moment. A song that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t apologize for any of it.
Catch Them Live This Spring
Apr 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Apr 24 – Felton, CA @ Felton
Apr 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Apr 26 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlet Room
Apr 29 – Seattle, WA @ Hidden Hall
Apr 30 – Portland, OR @ Soundscape NW
May 1 – Bend, OR @ Volcanic Theatre Pub
May 2 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
May 3 – SLC, UT @ Urban Lounge
May 6 – Denver, CO @ Globe
May 8 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
May 9 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Grab your tickets here before they’re gone. Instrumental music this good deserves a room full of people paying attention.
‘Nowhere Faster’ drops April 10th via Joyful Noise Recordings. Pre-order / save it now and do yourself a favour.
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