I'm Going Away is an appropriate title for the Fiery Furnaces' eighth full-length, because Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger have been fleeing pop conventions for a large portion of their collaborative careers. The 12 tracks off this '70s-sitcom-inspired piano-pop joint were recorded near the siblings in the 88th, 90th and 94th Precincts of New York City at the end of 2008 and the start of 2009. It was produced by Matthew and recorded and mixed by Sebadoh's Jason Lowenstein (who also played bass). Drums and percussion came courtesy of longtime bandmate/friend Robert D'Amico. Except for the traditional title track, everything was arranged in the usual Friedberger & Friedberger way: Matt penned the majority of the arrangements and Eleanor wrote most of the itinerary-laden lyrics.

The pair had this to say about I'm Going Away: "All rock music is a sort of dramatic music. And since the times are tough, it makes sense to have that 'drama' be something more like a version of Taxi than something like a version of Titanic. We like Taxi better than Titanic anyway. So we hope that some of the songs on this record can be used as theme songs to folk's own personal versions of Taxi. Because--ideally--the dramatic setting of the music isn't provided by the story or image of the given act or band. It's provided by the lives of the people who use--listen to--the music. That's all kinds of pop music's promise and problem, or danger. So be careful and don't get canceled."

The Friedbergers make perfect sense, because the pensive piano melody on "The End Is Near" would go perfectly that imaginary apocalyptic sitcom in your mind. Count the organ and guitar breakdown/coda of "Staring at the Steeple" too. To watch some funny, off-the-cuff promo videos from the Friedberger sibs and an interactive timeline of their career, visit www.thrilljockey.com/ff.