Trying Not to Have a Thought, out September 12 via Saddle Creek, isn’t just Algernon Cadwallader’s first album since 2011’s Parrot Flies, it’s their first with the original lineup since 2008’s Some Kind of Cadwallader. Shortly after that debut, drummer Nick Tazza and guitarist Colin Mahony departed; Algernon broke up in 2012 and stayed dormant until their feverishly anticipated 2022 reunion.
“There’s a certain magic to this original form,” says vocalist-bassist Peter Helmis. No one expected new music, but as they rehearsed, ideas emerged, and the seeds of Trying Not to Have a Thought took root. “I’m kind of hearing in my head what this person’s already doing,” recalls guitarist Joe Reinhart of their rekindled chemistry.
Written across two retreats, Washington’s Snoqualmie and Pennsylvania’s Poconos, the album was tracked at Pachyderm Studios and Reinhart’s Headroom in Philadelphia. Rather than sounding forced, it’s warm, lively, and effortlessly hooky. Fans will recognize Algernon’s DNA, yet the record feels uncoupled from trends: “Joan of Arc and Pavement in a blender is where we end up,” Reinhart jokes.
Lyrically, Helmis moves from abstract prose to explicit themes: grief (“Hawk”), protest (“Revelation 420”), capitalism’s failures (“Million Dollars”), and the MOVE 9 tragedy (“Attn MOVE”). The title reflects resisting mental overload amid chaos—and the band’s instinctive bond. “This is just what comes out of us when these four people get in a room,” Helmis says.