The Eastern Sea just dropped the new indie anthem.

Attention, cardigan owners: we've got your new indie crush right here. Austin, Texas' The Eastern Sea makes urgent, tuneful music you can dive right into, especially if autumnal chilliness and serious feelings are your jam. The group's new single, "Wasn't For Love," opens with a burly bass line and twinkling mallet percussion before stomping into a head-turning indie-rock plea.

Frontman Matthew Hines' quivering voice lands somewhere between Ben Gibbard and Conor Oberst -- like those gentleman, he's a sensitive lyricist, singed with palpable anxiety of trains leaving the station and "the thought that someday soon / maybe you'd fear me, too." The darker vibes are balanced by The Eastern Sea's bright musicianship: the song turns to Sufjan Stevens-esque horn orchestration and glimmers with a breathy, group-vocal chorus. Pretty as it gets, the rhythm section keeps the song thumping and insistent -- expect a well-deserved "Gossip Girl" closing montage in Eastern Sea's future.

The track's the first look at the band's official debut, Plague, which they tracked live to tape (chops!) in Austin's HOTTRACKS!!! studio with producer Matt Smith (Ola Podrida, Golden Bear). The album drops June 26 on WhiteLabBlackLab -- we'll just be hanging out under our air conditioning and planning our fall/winter 2012 wardrobes all summer anyway, so no rush.

+ Listen to The Eastern Sea's "Wasn't For Love."