On December 21, 2017 Scott Avett mentioned in an interview that they were again working with producer Rick Rubin on new material. Ten months later, in October 2018, the band debuted the song "Roses & Sacrifice" on "Late Night with Seth Meyers", and in an interview Scott Avett stated their next album would release the following year, in 2019, describing the album as “by no means a political record, but it’s more about blatant social and political issues than ever before." The next month, on November 16, 2018, "Roses & Sacrifice" was released as a single on the American Recordings label, with follow-up singles "Trouble Letting Go" and "Neapolitan Sky" released on December 21, 2018 and February 1, 2019, respectively. On May 6 the band released "Sun, Flood, or Drought," a song featured in the documentary "The Biggest Little Farm." On June 13 the band announced that their next album would be titled "Closer Than Together," to be released on October 4, 2019, and described as "informed by what is happening now." The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard Americana/Folk charts to mixed reviews.