Pitchfork

You read that right: another lupine act has joined Wolf Parade and Wolf Eyes in the Sub Pop (extended) family.

Le Loup, which-- as Babelfish tells this non-French speaker-- means "The Wolf", have inked a deal with Sub Pop off-shoot Hardly Art, which will release their debut, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly, this fall.

The album takes its wordy title from a lavish devotional work by Henry Darger-esque reclusive folk artist James Hampton. The DC-based septet, meanwhile, sprung from the solo work of one Sam Simkoff (banjo, keys, loop pedal), and now also includes Michael Ferguson (guitar), Nicole Keenan (keys, french horn), Dan Ryan (bass, double bass), Robert Sahm (drums), May Tabol (guitar, violin), and Jim Thomson (guitar). Pretty much everybody sings.

Swing by Le Loup's MySpace to sample three tunes. With its steady, insistent banjo and hushed harmonizing, the first, bearing an eponymous title, might call to mind the more subdued moments of Sufjan Stevens or Arcade Fire. The other two tunes, meanwhile, have an electro-acoustic bloopiness that wouldn't sound out of place on a Morr Music release-- or a record by the Helio Sequence, who in fact recommended Le Loup to Hardly Art.

Le Loup play Washington, DC's Rock and Roll Hotel, alongside the Rosebuds and Bowerbirds, on May 22.

Hardly Art's inaugural release, as previously reported, will be Arthur & Yu's lovely In Camera, out June 19.