The Else is the twelfth studio album by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released by Idlewild Recordings on May 15, 2007. The album was produced in part by the Dust Brothers, along with Pat Dillett and the band.
The Else was first available for download through the iTunes Store on May 15, 2007. The CD version was released in stores on July 10, 2007, with initial runs accompanied by a full-length bonus disc of rare material, Cast Your Pod to the Wind (the title being a parody of jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi's 1962 hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind"). On September 11, 2007, the band released a gatefold LP of the album.
"Contrecoup" was originally written and recorded in 2005 as part of a challenge issued on the Next Big Thing in which lexicographer Erin McKean implored John Linnell to use the words "contrecoup", "", and "limerent" in a song so that the words could be added to or remain in the dictionary.
"Careful What You Pack" was originally written for the soundtrack of 2009 film Coraline, though it never appeared in the film.
The album reached #9 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart.