As reported by imminent indie purveyor Stereogum, Band of Horses have announced that their new LP Mirage Rock will be released on Columbia Records Sept. 18. Above, as you’ve probably guessed, is the unsurprisingly ethereal album art. Mirage Rock will follow 2010′s Infinite Arms — the band’s lush, lovely and somewhat limp major label debut — as the band’s second offering on Columbia Records. The album was produced by Glyn Johns, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year in recognition of his work with The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Faces and Eric Clapton among others.  In keeping with the band’s Grammy-nominated, arena-touring status, the album is currently available for pre-order over at iTunes with an exclusive song included for those who share their Band of Horses cash with Apple.

With the news comes a video for Mirage Rock opener “Knock Knock.” The song promises more energy than Infinite Arms, springing to life with chugging fuzz and a rhythmic chorus that rap-tap-taps at the door. It builds potently throughout its four-minute length, earning a surprisingly effective salvo of hand claps in the final minute. You can check out the video below along with the album’s tracklist. —Jordan Lawrence

Mirage Rock:

1. Knock Knock
2. How To Live
3. Slow Cruel Hands of Time
4. A Little Biblical
5. Shut-In Tourist
6. Dumpster World
7. Electric Music
8. Everything’s Gonna Be Undone
9. Feud
10. Long Vows
11. Heartbreak On the 101

Matrimony, the Charlotte folk-pop band centered around married couple Jimmy Brown and Ashlee Hardee Brown, has signed to Columbia Records.
The band announced its record deal at a Dec. 29 concert at Charlotte’s Visulite Theatre, and the signing was reported by Creative Loafing’s Vibes blog and confirmed by Charlotte Observer critic Courtney Devores’ Sound Bites blog.

This news follows the warm reception of Matrimony’s 2010 EP, The Storm & The Eye, a promising debut of smooth folk-pop buoyed by Americana twang and a lilt from the native folk of Brown’s native Ireland.

Like big-time bands The Avett Brothers, The Swell Season and Mumford & Sons, Matrimony uses the string-band folk rollick only as a propellant for panoramic pop-songs. That they’d find their way into the Avetts’ company (the Avetts’ label, American Records, is a subsidiary of Columbia) isn’t altogether surprising.

Matrimony released its latest, the digital single “Obey Your Guns,” in June, 2011. The band’s Columbia debut is expected to arrive sometime this summer. —Bryan Reed

UPDATE: It looks like news of Matrimony’s major-label signing first broke on the local Charlotte Events Calendar e-mail newsletter, which was published Dec. 28.