It began yesterday, with a strange Instagram post by Decemberists’ lead singer, Colin Meloy, an animation that featured what appeared to be a religious revival of sorts, with Meloy as the lead evangelist. Underneath, the caption read:

"YOU" ARE ETERNAL CALL 971-23-ALIVE

So this morning, when I came across the post, and without any other information, I called the number. The recording on the other end began with a small clip from the song “Cavalry Captain,” from the band’s 2015 release What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, and then the voice of Meloy posing as “CM,” an evangelist with a message of love and finding your place in the universe. At the end of the recording, the listener was told to “to leave their most ardent wishes” after the tone.

Then later in the morning came the email from the Decemberists’ mailing list, with the same text as was spoken by Meloy in the phone recording. All of this seemed like a strangely timed release of even stranger material, promoting a record that’s already quite a few months old. But then I found the hook, in the caption for the video above, which reads:

We are all Decemberists. Please join us. Call 971-23-ALIVE to find your place in the universe. #Decemberism New EP 'Florasongs' available now.

So there you have it. A bizarre, excessive marketing push for a new EP from your favorite baroque pop band out of Portland, OR. Hop to it.