Califone's upcoming album, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, is meant to be a companion piece to the film of the same name written and directed by singer Tim Rutili. But give a listen to "Funeral Singers" and tell me this music can't stand up just fine on its own. Banjo and electric guitar tangle with the sawdust buzz of Rutili's guitar, making a sound as intricate and subtle as anything on the band's stellar Heron King Blues without giving up a shred of tunefulness. Of course, as soon as you get comfortable, there's a series of voices talking over the middle of the song that cast an everyday kind of sadness over the track. But sad or not, this is beautiful stuff from a band that seems to make nothing but.

All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is out Oct. 6 on Dead Oceans. [Stereogum]