New David Bazan, "Bless This Mess"

For Pedro the Lion fans, this is probably a great (or at least good) moment. After the band broke up, lead singer David Bazan's sort of been all over the map-- recording multiple albums under different names, dealing with his lack of faith (once very prevalent) and drinking quite heavily. Enter the 2009 version of the artist. He's still coming to grips with faith, and what it means to him, but the binge drinking's pretty much over. Plus, he's letting out what may be the most important album of his career to-date (besides his Pedro the Lion debut, probably). If the upcoming Curse Your Branches tanks, I'm not sure where Bazan goes from here. However, if it flourishes, the future is as bright as it once was five or six years ago. If you were into Achille's Heel at all, chances are you'll get something out of this, as Curse Your Brances is similarly less misery and more coping. However, I'll let you be the judge. You can hear and download one of the new songs, "Bless This Mess," via the Gumdrop over at Stereogum. Curse Your Branches is out September 1st via Barsuk.