In March 2020, while the COVID-19 pandemic left the band unable to tour, Darnielle retrieved his old Panasonic RX-FT500 tape deck and recorded 10 new songs, using the direct-to-boombox method for the first time since 2002's "All Hail West Texas". The resulting album, entitled "Songs for Pierre Chuvin", was inspired by Darnielle's reading of Pierre Chuvin's 1990 book "A Chronicle of the Last Pagans", and was released digitally on April 10, 2020, with a limited physical release on cassette through Merge Records.