Murder By Death will begin recording their fifth full-length studio album in December at Bloomington-based Farm Fresh Studios. The forthcoming as-yet-untitled disc will be mixed by Trina Shoemaker (who produced 2008's Red of Tooth and Claw) and is scheduled for release next spring.

Adam Turla, MBD's singer, songwriter, and guitarist wrote most of the new material during two weeks he spent alone deep in the woods of Appalachia. He explained the sound:
With this record, we wanted to write a more versatile and manic album, We are going for doomier, more beautiful, even a few songs in major keys (rare for us)... the whole kit-and-caboodle.

In 2009, the band supported the Gaslight Anthem and also released an instrumental soundtrack to accompany the science-fiction book, Finch, by author Jeff VanderMeer. The band learned that director Quentin Tarantino was a fan when he chose their song "Comin' Home" for the Inglorious Basterds movie trailer.