Atlanta progressive metal giants Mastodon have unveiled a brand-new track titled “Your Ghost Again”. Produced by Patrik Berger (known for his work with Taylor Swift and Robyn) alongside Kurt Ballou, the song serves as the first taste of the band’s forthcoming ninth studio album, which is scheduled for release later this year.
“Your Ghost Again” marks the first new music from MASTODON since the passing of co-founding guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds. Hinds left the band in March 2025 and tragically died in a motorcycle accident five months later. Following his departure, touring guitarist Nick Johnston stepped into the lineup and is reportedly featured on the band’s upcoming studio album.
In a video released alongside the announcement of the new single, the members of MASTODON revealed that the song serves as a tribute to their late former bandmate, honoring his legacy and lasting impact on the band.
“‘Your Ghost Again’ is about when you lose somebody that’s close to you that you existed with for most of your life,” MASTODON drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor said. “When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I’d see him on my right holding the guitar because that’s where he’d usually be. It’s the same with my mom: I keep seeing her. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts.
Dailor went on to say that “Your Ghost Again” is “about being in those familiar places you used to be with people, which for us is in the studio. I just kept seeing [Brent] out of the corner of my eye, where he would normally be with his guitar. It’s about that: your mind plays tricks on you, especially so soon after someone dies and you’re in the places where they always were. You just see them.”
“My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent,” added MASTODON bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders. “The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent. It’s all the gifts from you, now you can take them back where you must go, meaning you came into my life, you exposed me to things that blew my mind, together we conquered thousands of stages around the world, had magical moments that we can never repeat again, but all the beauty that you brought it still remains, always will, and it’s just a line of gratitude because that’s important that we include Brent.”
MASTODON guitarist/vocalist Bill Kelliher commented: “We wanted to pick a song that sounds like MASTODON, and that has all the things in there, because it’s the first impression of what people are gonna hear. It speaks about things that have just happened and people passing, I could go deep but I don’t want to because a lot of that shit’s personal.”
photo credit: Alison Webster
