Photo: Holly Andres
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The Decemberists are back.

The band returned Wednesday with a new single called "Severed," the first from their eighth studio album, titled I'll Be Your Girl, which will arrive March 16 via Capitol Records. The followup to the band's 2015 LP What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, which was produced by John Congleton, is said to be "dark, more absurdist" than their previous material.

"When you’ve been a band for 17 years, inevitably there are habits you fall into," said singer Colin Meloy in a statement. "So our ambition this time was really just to get out of our comfort zone. That’s what prompted working with a different producer and using a different studio. We wanted to free ourselves from old patterns and give ourselves permission to try something different."

In addition the album news, the band has also announced a new spring tour, with tickets on sale this Friday. A limited pre-sale is already active.

I'll Be Your Girl is already available for pre-order and "Severed" can be heard below.