New Albums for Octopus Project and Okkervil River

Electronic rock sprocket the Octopus Project has a new album due out this summer, set for release on the quartet’s longtime local imprint of choice, Peek-A-Boo Records. Titled Fever Forms, it’ll be the Austin instrumentalists fifth CD in 11 years, a 12-track scheduled for July 9.

Anticipating its release, the band has gone forth with a stereoscopic promotional strategy, one revolving around a series of 3-D videos that basically animate those tricky Magic Eye tests.

I’ve programmed myself against any ventures involving my possibly becoming cross-eyed, so I have absolutely no idea what’s going on with this stuff, but the OP brass promises that the exercise is entirely “worth it.”

“It takes some dedicated practice, but trust us,” they wrote on their Facebook page.

Rarely has the band failed us thus far.

Here’s rounds one and two of this seeing eye operation. Please email me with any insights whatsoever! In the meantime, what can deduce a sliver of Fever Form’s general ambiance, which protrudes and pulsates quite slowly on the first teaser, then opens up with real jovial, aired-out sequencing on the second.

In other album release news, Austin’s venerable indie rock storytellers Okkervil River today announced upcoming LP The Silver Gymnasium, its seventh, arriving Sept. 3 on ATO Records. Frontman Will Sheff and his crew got as alternative as Octopus Project on its campaign to reveal the name of the disc, releasing each letter in the title individually – almost Wheel of Fortune style – on the band’s website.

Okkervil River counts itself among the many locals showcasing this October at Austin City Limits, though, unlike a lot of Austin acts, they’re scheduled for both weeks.