Room40 label head Lawrence English has announced his latest album, Cruel Optimism.

The 10-track LP will be released via Room40 on February 17 and is directly influenced by the text of the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant. According to English, Cruel Optimism is a product of the tense times we live in and, more directly, “a new wave of humanitarian and refugee crisis, the black lives matter movement, the widespread use of sonic weapons on civilians, increased drone strikes in Waziristan, Syria and elsewhere, and record low numbers of voting around Brexit and the US election cycle, suggesting a wider sense of disillusionment and powerlessness.”

English worked with a range of musicians on Cruel Optimism, including contributions from Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp, Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, Werner Dafeldecker, Norman Westberg, Brodie McAllister, Australian Voices, Vanessa Tomlinson, Heinz Riegler, and Thor Harris.

Cruel Optimism can be pre-ordered here, with LP cut “Object Of Projection” streaming in full below—you can also download the track for free via English’s Bandcamp page.