Orville Peck’s fourth studio album, Mule, arrives today (September 18) via Warner Records. Framed as a chronological account of a year marked by addiction, sobriety, and rebuilding, the 13-song set moves between classic country storytelling, bluegrass textures, and broader Americana — a more intimate follow-up to last year’s Appaloosa EP.
Producer Jay Joyce helmed sessions at Neon Cross Studio in Nashville with Peck’s five-piece band and guests including Molly Tuttle, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Teddy and the Rough Riders. The brief opener “Prologue (Eulogy of a Man Turned Mule)” features Emmylou Harris, Noah Cyrus, and Allison Russell; lead single “Too Little, Too Late” previewed the project’s freer country-pop side when the album was announced in July.
Peck told The Guardian the record documents “the most important year of my life,” and Clash’s release-day coverage quotes him on facing pain with new resolve. The Man Turned Mule Tour opens tonight at the Hollywood Bowl, with further North American dates already on the books.