Photo courtesy of ANTI"Don't mind me, I'm just livin' here."To be sure, that's a simple request, but one that the majority of humanity tends to find absolutely, unthinkably impossibe to grant. It's offered up by William Elliot Whitmore in a track taken from his upcoming new album, Radium Death, the Iowa troubadour's eighth. To those lucky enough to have discovered his extensive body of work, Whitmore is lowkey a national treasure, singing out above dusky folk anthems with earnest, homespun charm."Pay no attention, I'm just tryin' to exist," he moans on "Civilizations," whose sepia-toned animated video is a further delight. Whitmore's punk roots and country raising still show now and then, and in another lifetime, "Civilizations" could've been written by Kropotkin on an old banjo. As this Bad Brains fan and farmer's son is quoted, "This song is for everyday folks trying to get along in an increasingly chaotic world. Societies crumble, but people persevere."Persevering is something that he's used to doing. His new album sees Whitmore go electric, trading his customary sparse acoustics for a full band, but the spirit of his other material remains. Radium Death is out now on ANTI; watch "Civilizations" crumble below: