"Hello, and welcome to a new beginning." So begins The Way Out, the fourth album by the Books, the first in five years from the celebrated Northeastern duo.

With new homes both personally and professionally - founders Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong have both settled in the mountains north of New York City to start families, and The Way Out marks their first release for Temporary Residence Limited - this is indeed a new beginning.

Over the course of three albums in nearly a decade's time, the Books have grown to become one of modern music's most genuine innovators.

Creatively complex and truly unclassifiable, The Way Out continues the Books' tradition of meticulous, existential songcraft, infusing the playfully surreal elements of previous albums with a humorous, childlike excitement.

Produced and recorded as always in the Books' home studios, The Way Out expands on the charm and intimacy of past endeavors with a deeper emotional resonance and an ever-impressive marriage of seemingly disparate sound worlds.

With The Way Out, the Books have mastered the precarious balance of beauty, absurdity and accessibility.

"And it feels so good, so relaxed, and so at ease, and you're becoming the world, and everyone in it." CD package is available in multiple cover variations and features a 10x20-inch foldout full-color poster with custom matte and gloss varnished and metallic silver foil stamping.