A Black Mile to the Surface by Manchester Orchestra

A Black Mile to the Surface, Manchester Orchestra's fifth studio album, arrived July 21, 2017 on Loma Vista Recordings and Favorite Gentlemen, the band's own label. Andy Hull and Robert McDowell came into it fresh from their soundtrack work on the 2016 film Swiss Army Man and wanted a clean break from Cope and Hope. Catherine Marks produced, with sessions starting in the summer of 2016.

It's a concept record set in a South Dakota mining town, with Hull threading thoughts about his young daughter through the story. The sound moves between alternative rock and Americana, patient and widescreen, the hushed passages making the eruptions land like cave-ins. "The Gold" led off in June, then "The Alien" and "The Moth". Critics praised Hull's storytelling and the filmic sweep, and it debuted at 33 on the Billboard 200.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.