“[This album] is very inspired by being liberated from a corporate contract and getting involved with like-minded individuals,” Moore says, hinting at the band’s break with Geffen Records and its subsequent signing to indie-friendly Matador Records. Moore is thrilled to join forces with the label that’s home to critical favorites like Cat Power and Yo La Tengo. He likens Matador to “a candy store” that is onboard with all the band’s artistic whims -- a connection that may stem from the group’s history with Matador cofounder Gerard Cosloy, who released Sonic Youth’s earliest albums in the 1980s. Moore laughs at the serendipity. “To meet up again after all this time, it’s kind of sweet,” he says.

A new label isn’t the only thing different about the band this go-round. Moore and his bandmates -- Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley -- added longtime friend Mark Ibold from indie legend Pavement to their musical roster and changed their decades-old recording routine in an effort to reignite the artistic process. It worked; the band’s knack for catchy art-rock has been loosened into a noise playground on The Eternal. The result has Sonic Youth sounding their youngest in years, visiting upbeat classic-rock territory in “Walkin Blue” and sprinkling vocal harmonies on the bittersweet “Poison Arrow.”

Moore’s excitement over the new disc is obvious, and he’s hopeful their fans will love it just as much. “[This record] is infused with so much more energy and excitement than the last record was,” he says. “We went into it thinking, ‘Let’s make this happen in the most beautiful way we can.’ “