Bloglander

click to enlarge

As singer-songwriter and Moscow, Idaho, native Josh Ritter embarks on a 30-date spring tour that will take him from Philadelphia to Seattle (Feb. 22 at the Showbox SoDo) to the United Kingdom, he's letting fans stream his new EP, To the Yet Unknowing World, for free.

The EP comprises six songs, including three remixes of tracks from his last full-length record, So Runs the World Away. One of these is a dirty, mean, gritty reimagining of "Rattling Locks," one of the best numbers from that album.

The best part, though? The first track on the EP is "Galahad," his performance of which at the Knitting Factory in November was wildly popular. A cast-off from the So Runs the World Away session that is reminiscent of some of his other novel-esque, finely wrought story-songs ("The Curse," "The Temptation of Adam"), "Galahad" tells the story of the Arthurian knight, who's trying to enter Heaven.

But why would he want to go to Heaven, an angel asks him, continuing, "In Heaven, there's no lamb chops, no Guineveres for handjobs, marijuana, Kenny Rogers or Ecstasy. No pillaging, no rape, perhaps you've come by some mistake. To me, that seems more error than knight-errantry."

Ritter at his finest. Give it a listen.