Indie rock act Akron/Family will release its fourth album in April through Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian, Billboard.com has learned. The as-yet-untitled set is the follow-up to 2007's "Love Is Simple" and is the first studio recording the group has done as a three piece.

"There were other record labels that we liked, but Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar was our number one first choice. It was really exciting that they were interested in us," multi-instrumentalist Miles Seaton tells Billboard.com. Akron/Family had previously recorded for Young God.

Seaton is particularly excited about the progression the group has made in the studio this time around. "It started out being really inspired by American soul and West African music," he explains. "We're all still in love with American classic rock music, but [the new record] is inspired by many different directions."

"I'm really excited about the shifting voice of the narrative on this record," he says. "The lyrics, thematically, are shaped in this really organic and natural way around what is happening -- something that is very real and true to us. It's not too heavy and not too clever."

"I wouldn't say out of the box we sound like a whole new band, but there's a couple of extreme elements on this record," Seaton continues. "There's one track that emphasizes our fondness for extreme noise and painful, almost guttural sounds -- raw, primal noise. We've alluded to those things, but I think there are a few moments that are mashing all those sounds together, into hopefully, one seven-minute prog masterpiece." 

Akron/Family will play a handful of shows to ring in the New Year, beginning Dec. 28 in Boston, then heading to Burlington, Vt., the next night. The group will also help close the Knitting Factory's New York space on New Year's Eve.