MIEN (mems Black Angels, Horrors) take a trip to sitar-fueled "Earth Moon" (listen)

MIEN, the new psych-rock supergroup featuring The Black Angels’ Alex Maas, The Horrors’ Tom Furse, Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir and The Earlies’ John-Mark Lapham will release their debut album on April 6 via Rocket Recordings. (Preorder.) We’ve got the premiere of the LP’s lead cut, “Earth Moon.” Opening with a wash of sitar, from Rishi Dhir, a rolling groove kicks in, pulled along by a cinematic, mellotron-filled hook. It’s a bright start to what is otherwise a dark record. Rishi told us how it came about:

This was the first song Tom and I collaborated on back in 2012. It started off as a potential track for a Horrors record (“Luminous” I think), but it didn’t make the cut. So, it eventually made its way into the MIEN world… I tracked some drums and bass, JM did his mad scientist thing (there’s a tap dancer on the tune!), and Alex summoned ancients chants of the earth and moon.

Listen close to see if you can hear that tap dancer — “Earth Moon” streams below, as does the previously released “Black Habit.”

While their members are far-flung around the globe, MIEN will make their live debut at Levitation Festival in April. Rishi says the band are gonna convene in Austin around SXSW-time to start practice, and there is talk of a European tour. Stay tuned.