For fifteen or sixteen years, Pigeon lay beside Douglas McCombs while he wrote music. One of the songs on Brokeback’s forthcoming Colder, Milder wonders whether the dog would have chosen him if she could invent her ideal person. Pigeon Dreamt A Man is a lovely title for that question. Being somebody’s favourite human is a responsibility worth worrying about.
The Chicago quartet’s first album since 2017’s Illinois River Valley Blues is due February 26, 2027 through Thrill Jockey. The title track is available now. McCombs remains joined by James Elkington, Peter Croke and Areif Sless-Kitain, with the same lineup returning after that long interval. Colder, Milder puts that established group back to work on eight new pieces.
The label describes McCombs and Elkington bringing in the beginnings of pieces for all four musicians to develop. A short figure on guitar or Bass VI can be enough to begin. That is a useful detail for an instrumental band: the writing continues when the other players arrive. The person who brought the first few notes does not have to have decided everything they will become.
Elkington has arranged strings for a Brokeback album for the first time, performed by Lia Kohl and Macie Stewart. Amalea Tchilds contributes vocals, and John McEntire recorded the band. The additions give this established quartet new collaborators without replacing the four musicians whose exchanges shaped the earlier record.
Pigeon gives the announcement its most personal detail. A companion present for years of writing has become the subject of a piece, with McCombs wondering whether the affection was as straightforward from the dog’s side. He can choose how to write the dedication. He cannot quite answer the question behind it. That small doubt makes the gesture more affectionate than a confident claim to have been the perfect human.