Mountain Goats – Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan (2xLP)

A fishing boat, helmed by Captain Peter Balkan, sets sail from port with a crew of fifteen. In heavy waters on the open sea, the vessel keels over and is lost; only three of the crew survive. These three – Peter Balkan, a crewman named Adam, and an unnamed narrator – wash ashore on an islet too small and barren to sustain life. Captain Balkan, having sustained injury to his head in the wreck, begins to suffer great visions, prophesying the end of the world and the arrival of a new kingdom. As Balkan deteriorates, Adam goes missing, presumably drowned. The narrator is left to care for his captain in his final days. Alone, he imagines himself restored to society in the world before the wreck, vowing to remember his companions in catastrophe.

Produced by the Mountain Goats’ multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan is a full-on musical that stands as the most conceptually detailed and musically elaborate project in the band’s ever-expanding catalog. It features appearances from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, musical theater royalty Lin-Manuel Miranda, and bassist Cameron Ralston.