The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton are not the first names you expect to see on the same spine, but their new album AVTT/PTTN makes the pairing feel inevitable. Nine songs, eight originals and a reworked traditional folk song, all co-written and produced by Scott Avett, Seth Avett, Patton, and Grammy-winning engineer Dana Nielsen, land as one of the most surprising and fearless left turns any of them have taken. The recently released track, “Heaven’s Breath,” is a thick, fuzzy rock bruiser that Scott calls his first spark for the project, the song hits hard and pulls the curtain back on the heavier corners of the record.

For the Avetts, teaming up with Patton was a reunion with their own teenage obsessions. Faith No More and Mr. Bungle were part of their musical DNA long before anyone outside North Carolina knew their names. Scott admits he once studied Patton’s every move. Now, with years of experience under their own belts, the brothers found themselves in the room with the guy they once imitated, discovering the ease that comes with mutual trust. Patton returned that sentiment with a twisted grin, calling his role “a long distant cousin kept in the chicken coop until someone remembered him.” It is his kind of joke, but it also nails the spirit of the partnership. Three voices, three imaginations, all pulling from different corners of the map and meeting right in the middle.

What keeps AVTT/PTTN from feeling like a stunt is the balance. No one dominates. No one hangs back. Patton’s seasoned croon settles neatly into the track, “Dark Night of My Soul,” where the trio lean into a soft acoustic shimmer and rich three-part harmonies. From there, they push into new territory with the scuzzy stomp of “The Ox Driver’s Song,” the molten drive of “Heaven’s Breath,” and the driving pulse that shapes “Eternal Love,” the lead single that introduced the whole venture. You can hear songs being built in real time, sketched by Scott, reshaped by Patton, and reimagined again once Seth put his hands on them.

The weight of what they made did not fully hit until they stepped back from the sessions. Scott, Seth, and Mike walked in as three artists from different worlds and walked out sounding like a band. AVTT/PTTN was born from trust, shared history, and the kind of vulnerability that only happens when the room is free of small talk. It shows three seasoned collaborators carving out a space that did not exist before they stepped into it.