Seattle-via-Louisville indie rockers Mansions have developed something of a cult following in the decade they've been in a band, and they've been pretty quiet since the release of 2013's very good Doom Loop. They're finally ready to follow it with a new EP, Deserter, which drops on November 3 via Bad Timing Records (pre-order). Frontman Christopher Browder talked about the inspiration for the long-awaited EP literally fell into his lap(top). "I was writing more guitar-based rock songs for a while, and then I had a synthesizer fall on my laptop and destroy my hard drive. It felt a little symbolic that a synthesizer would ruin all my demos. It would have cost a few grand to recover the hard drive, and I thought, ‘OK, how good are these songs? Are they worth it to me?" He then went back to the drawing board and made Mansions' most synth-heavy project yet.

We're premiering the EP's first single, "Heel Theme." which does have a noticeable electronic influence, but they haven't fully abandoned their rock side or anything. It's got some pretty heavy riffs, and it's also a lot darker than the power pop of Doom Loop. Christopher still has his trademark boyish vocals, which sorta fall somewhere between Ben Gibbard and Andy Hull, and his naturally lighthearted sound makes for an appealing juxtaposition with the song's darkness. Listen below.

Mansions are opening the Seattle stop of TWIABP's tour and they also have a Halloween weekend show in their hometown. Those are their only upcoming dates at the moment.

In other recent Mansions news, Christopher Browder and Weatherbox's Brian Warren recently reissued their 2009 collaborative EP which came out under the name Manbox. You can hear it on Spotify.

Deserter Tracklist

1. Heel Theme

2. High Numbers

3. I Feel Worse

4. No Shows

5. Brain Fog

6. One of Three