Aesop Rock and Blockhead are reuniting for an album that takes inspiration from a childhood memory: Poconos resort commercials that promise relaxation, reinvention, and escape. Titled Trouble Mountain, the album is releasing on November 13 via Rhymesayers Entertainment. The 17-track album features Open Mike Eagle, Hanni El Khatib, Baby Dayliner, Cavalier, and 4-IZE.
Animated by longtime visual collaborator Justin “Coro” Kaufman, you can watch the video for the first single, “Trouble Trouble,” below.
Trouble Mountain marks Aesop Rock’s thirteenth studio album. The theme revolves around the fantasy of escaping into a fictional destination in search of a better life. However, Aesop Rock emphasizes it isn’t an escape record, but asks the question: why are we always trying to escape in the first place?
“Growing up in NY, we were bombarded with TV ads tempting us to visit the Poconos,” Aesop says in a press release. “I do not ski, but I did have relatives who lived in the Poconos area and I spent many weekends there as a kid—though, of course not in a sick party lodge. Trouble Mountain is me and Blockhead’s (fake) ski lodge where you might meet your future spouse or you might have to fight some local ski gangs - (which I assume is a thing.) Anything can happen. (It’s a metaphor for life, y’all!).”

Trouble Mountain is out November 13. Preorder here. Tracklist below.
1. Swedish Death Cleaning
2. Coyote Summer (feat. Hanni El Khatib)
3. Church Key
4. Easter
5. Hound Selector
6. TM Tours (feat. Baby Dayliner)
7. Trouble Trouble
8. Mom One
9. One Thing (feat. Open Mike Eagle)
10. Ants
11. Oatmeal
12. No Interviews
13. The Bag
14. Eat And Grow (feat. Cavalier and 4-IZE)
15. Ewok
16. High and Outside
17. Buffering
Limited edition 4xLP vinyl box sets are now available for preorder. The deluxe vinyl includes the full album plus instrumentals, housed in an embossed and foil-stamped numbered slipcase. More merch surrounding Trouble Mountain is on aesoprock.com.
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