18 New Albums Out Now From Billy Strings, Alabama Shakes, Jim James & More

Billy Strings released his highly anticipated new album, So Much For Goodbyes, through Reprise Records. Strings produced the 16-track record with T Bone Burnett. The Grammy-winning guitarist poured his grief from the tragic death of his mother Debra Apostol on June 20, 2025 into the songs on the follow-up to 2024’s Highway Prayers. The Michigan-native initially planned to write songs based on poetry Debra wrote. While that project “just hasn’t panned out yet,” Strings adapted a painting his mother made into the cover art for So Much For Goodbyes. Strings posted a lengthy essay describing the circumstances surrounding the making of the album:

Alabama Shakes issued I Must Be Dreaming, their third studio album and first in over a decade. The long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s Sound & Color arrived via Island Records. Frontwoman Brittany Howard, bassist Zac Cockrell and guitarist Heath Fogg reunited in December 2024 after a six-year hiatus. Recorded in Nashville at Sound Emporium Studios and Blackbird Studios, I Must Be Dreaming was produced by the band alongside Shawn Everett, the six-time Grammy winner who engineered and mixed Sound & Color. The title of the LP speaks to the duality of a turbulent world and hope for the future.

“There’s a double meaning to it,” Howard explained. “It could be saying, ‘I must be dreaming, because the world is so fucking crazy right now.’ But it could also mean, ‘I must be dreaming, because the world is so incredibly beautiful.’ Both those things can be true at once.”

Jim James released Wowed Out, his first new solo record since 2018, on ATO Records. The 10-track effort is the My Morning Jacket frontman’s fifth solo LP. Produced solely by James, the songs on the record were developed last fall from material he originally composed with longtime friend Brian Reitzell (known for his extensive work with Sofia Coppola, including such films as Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides) for a pair of early 2010s film-scoring projects.

“There’ve been times in my life where I’ve felt lost or depressed, but music has always been the thing that pulls me back,” James revealed. “When I think about making this album, it almost feels like I was in some kind of dream and now I’m trying to remember what the dream was about. The whole thing brought me a lot of joy and comfort while I was making it, and I hope it brings everyone else a little joy and comfort too.”

Dinosaur Jr. returns with a new album, There Near, via Jagjaguwar. There Near marks Dinosaur Jr.’s first album in five years following Sweep It Into Space. Tracked at Bisquiteen Studio in the band’s hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts, the core trio of J Mascis on guitar, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph, local Amherst ace Ken Mauri provided keyboards on There Near. The record sees Mascis returning to a guitar sound he achieved on Dino’s first album, with the help of a Mesa Boogie amplifier.

“I bought the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album,” J said. “Chris recorded us at his house with his amp. It has a real interesting sound I haven’t gotten for a while. And it’s something I was trying to get back to on this album. The Stones started using Mesa Boogies in the ’70s after they heard Santana playing through them. Then The Clash copied The Stones, etc.

“As the years went on into the MK 2 and so on, the Boogie got more metal sounding. But the MK 1 has a souped-up Fender sound. You always hear how Rick Rubin always makes bands he’s producing sit down and listen to their first album and say let’s get back to that sound. So I just gave myself his advice.”

Fruition released their new studio album, Something More, via Bloodshot Records. With Grammy-winning producer Tucker Martine at the helm, Fruition’s Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebroek, Jeff Leonard, Mimi Naja and Tyler Thompson convened at his Flora Recording and Playback in Portland to track Something More.

“We walked in there like kids in a candy shop,” Mimi Naja said of the experience. “We were drawn to all of Tucker’s weird gear. We couldn’t have made an album like this — an album about growth, evolution, and maturity — without that enthusiasm, that space, and that guy.”

“This album is the culmination of almost two decades of making music as Fruition,” Jay Cobb Anderson said of Something More. “We set out to show the world what we’ve learned along the way, both musically and personally, but perhaps more importantly, the album makes a point to be honest about the things we’ve had to UNLEARN. The truth of this album is found in kicking old habits, letting go of control, interrogating our motives, and approaching each session with fearless, open hearts.”

New York based Interpol — vocalist/bassist Paul Banks, guitarist Daniel Kessler, drummer Sam Fogarino and touring bassist Brad Truax, who plays and writes on an Interpol album for the first time — released their seventh studio album, This Mirror Weighs a Ton, via Partisan Records. Produced by Andrew Wyatt and mixed by David Fridmann, the follow-up to 2022’s The Other Side of Make-Believe was recorded at Wyatt’s Lower East Side studio in New York — the band’s first time recording in the city in over a decade.

“I wondered what it would be like to keep the parts perfectly legible, because everyone in that band writes such great parts,” Wyatt said. “And to add some different spatial dimensions to it. It was something almost a little bit more like chamber music — the musical ideas bear scrutiny without needing the sonic treatment of it to carry all the weight.”

Nashville cosmic country outfit Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country — Daniel Donato (lead vocals/guitar), Nathan “Sugar Legg” Aronowitz (keyboards/vocals), Will “Mustang” McGee (bass/vocals) and William “Bronco” Clark (drums and percussion) — released their first live album, Ryman To Robert’s, via Retrace Music. The two-part set documents the band’s sold-out debut headlining performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on August 22, 2025 — the same night as the release of their third studio album Horizons — followed by selections from an after-show set of classic country covers at Robert’s Western World, where Donato spent 464 shows as a young musician before his career took off.

“At the age of 14, I started busking on the street in front of the Ryman, and soon after that, I discovered Robert’s Western World,” Donato said. “On the day of performing and recording this live album, it was the 10-year anniversary of my last show at Robert’s, and the first time headlining the Ryman Auditorium. In a 10-year town, with 10,000 hours under these strings, the cosmic circle was fulfilled, and just about every note of every minute of this day is now ready to share with the world.”

Guitarist Ty Segall rolled out a new album, Chrome, through Drag City. After releasing his 2025 album, Possession, Segall convened his full band — Ben Boye, Evan Burrows, Mikal Cronin and Emmett Kelly — at Sonic Ranch in the borderlands of Texas for the Chrome sessions with Cooper Crain at the helm. In the course of six days tracking the record, the band also captured the Love Fuzzz EP, containing two extended cuts, a new take on “Love Fuzzz,” off Segall’s 2012 LP Twins, and the 14-minute “My Pet Guru.”

Beastie Boys member Mike D released his debut solo album, Thank You, via Capitol Records. Recorded across a series of experimental sessions at his home studio and other locations, the “Mike D 5D” credited album was co-produced with Carter Lang, Jared Solomon, Ging, Jason Lader, Eddie Ruscha, Tyran Donaldson and others, including Mike’s sons Skyler and Davis.

“It’s been so much fun making this music with people I love and I have grown to really appreciate in our collaboration,” Mike D said. “And I just hope it’s fun for others and not overly serious, because let’s be real, I’m releasing this music into a very strange and dark and power-fixated world that really devalues art and feelings and compassion and empathy and equality.”

Rising bluegrass outfit Mountain Grass Unit put out their debut studio album, Appalachian Smoke, on Dualtone Records. Mountain Grass Unit — bassist Sam Wilson, mandolinist Drury Anderson, guitarist Luke Black and fiddler Josiah Nelson — largely tracked Appalachian Smoke live with acclaimed producer Vance Powell. Helping the band craft the sonic textures on their debut album are guests dobro player Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass), pedal steel player Karl Smakula and Grammy-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland.

“We wanted the album to feel like our live show,” Wilson noted. In that vein, Appalachian Smoke contains the band’s bluegrass bread and butter while also looping in psychedelic sounds.

“We were imagining our fan base while writing these songs,” Black added. “They’re music fans who like to do things outdoors, like getting together around a campfire and singing along.”

The Linda Lindas are back with Gotta Get Out, a new studio album out now via Reprise/Warner Records. Across 12 songs, Gotta Get Out is “the sound of The Linda Lindas discovering who they are,” and the result of the four members of the band writing together in the same room for the first time. Songwriting sessions in Palm Springs and Long Beach became a creative breakthrough, yielding material The Linda Lindas see as “more intentional, expansive, and personal than anything they’ve made before.” The single “Closer” features a guest spot from Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams. The track started off as a bilingual song Bela Salazar and Lucia de la Garza were working on while there bandmates Eloise Wong and Mila de la Garza were at school.

“’Closer’ is about feeling like you’re losing control of time, and watching yourself grow older from afar,” noted Bela Salazar and Lucia de la Garza. “Lately, we’ve been realizing how important it is to stay present, especially when our lives feel constantly in motion. It feels perfect that Hayley Williams was down to collaborate on this song with us, because we’ve been fans of her throughout so many of her different eras– and she’s seen us grow up over the last 10 years! We’ll always be honored that we got to write and get emo with the queen of emo herself.”

Mastodon’s new album, Marrow Deep, arrived today via Loma Vista Recordings. Marrow Deep marks a lot of firsts for the Atlanta-based metal band. The LP is their first since the tragic death of guitarist Brent Hinds last August. It’s Mastodon’s first new record in five years and first to feature guitarist Nick Johnston alongside contributions from recently installed keyboardist João Nogueira. Founding members Brann Dailor, Troy Sanders and Bill Kelliher were inspired by the three Fates of Greek mythology on an album that finds them “emerging from years of personal upheaval with a renewed sense of purpose and reinvigorated drive.”

Guests include Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, Converge’s Nate Newton, Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, Clutch’s Neil Fallon and Converge’s Ben Koller.

Sara Bareilles returns today with Good Grief, her first album since 2019, out now via Epic Records. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter self-produced Good Grief, which was primarily recorded over six days at Dreamland Recording Studios in Woodstock, New York. Bareilles was accompanied on the 14-track follow-up to Amidst The Chaos by a band featuring longtime collaborators drummer Charley Drayton, guitarist Butterfly Boucher, keyboardist Misty Boyce, bassist Solomon Dorsey, multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose and co-producer Jonathan Low. Additional sessions took place with co-producer Aaron Dessner at his Long Pond Studios in the Hudson Valley. The album further includes contributions from Brandi Carlile, Andrea Gibson, Ingrid Michaelson, Joe Tippett and Megan Falley.

“This whole collection of songs felt like transmissions rather than a deliberate attempt to make sense of the world,” noted Bareilles. “My deepest hope is that Good Grief provides some kind of comfort or catharsis.”

The Prince Estate shared Timeless, a posthumous collection of rare and unreleased vault recordings. The fittingly named Timeless is the first Prince LP to capture every era of his iconic career. The record includes cuts “from his earliest studio recordings as a teenage prodigy in Minneapolis to one of his final recorded performances,” press materials noted.

The Deslondes’ Riley Downing issued, Landfill Poetry, his first album release since signing to Oh Boy Records, the imprint co-founded by the late John Prine. Just as Prine came across ideas for his songs as a mailman in Chicago, Downing’s day job traced a similar path as a garbage man in Missouri. Downing crafted the Landfill Poetry tunes at his grandparents’ house in between road stints with The Deslondes. The guitarist and singer-songwriter began laying down sketches on an eight track recorder. Downing further explained the inspiration behind the album and in particular its title track:

“‘Landfill Poetry’ is a song that takes me back to my days shortly before I devoted the majority of my life to music. It is also a term that I feel represents this album as a whole. A good handful of these songs or ideas I had kept in my bindle sack of a brain, or moved from one pile to another, but never burying too far down to be lost forever. A true junk man or woman knows the feeling of never really wanting to throw anything away. Everything has a purpose or will even if not at that specific moment you discovered it. In the eye of the beholder, everything has potential to become the perfect part or piece to be used at some point, and for what exactly might take time to present itself, but should never be tossed out forever.

“Some artists have studios or little areas, or workshops where they spread out their materials or tools and get to work. My medium mostly involves words and melodies and just retaining memories for the most part. Luckily, they don’t take up much physical space or burn holes in the ozone layer. Though misplaced sometimes but never forgotten, most of what I write or draw inspiration from is stored upstairs in my head. Which can be the funnest thing or the most frustrating thing—to create something from nothing—but then again somebody’s nothing is somebody’s something.

“So you have it: ‘Landfill Poetry’—this song, album title, and album—is a culmination of everything that is my life or things I picked from my own personal mental landfill. This song in particular takes me back to my days as a trash man, when a much younger healthier me was hopping on and off a trash truck in rural Missouri. Going down one street and next, zig zagging through small towns, and over and under the rolling hills to anyone that needed us to stop by. I often travel and take myself back to places I have been in life but haven’t visited in a while and this memory is just one of many places we will go throughout the entirety of this album.”

Bitchin Bajas released their Isle Peaks EP via Drag City. The three-song set follows the trio’s 2025 full length, Inland See and was previously available only as a two-song Qobuz exclusive. The EP’s material was recorded using analog equipment during the sessions for Inland See.

Chicago instrumental post-rock trio Russian Circles — guitarist Mike Sullivan, drummer Dave Turncrantz and bassist/keyboardist Brian Cook — released their aptly titled ninth studio album, Nine, via Sargent House. Produced and engineered by Kurt Ballou, their fourth consecutive collaboration, the album was tracked at Electrical Audio in Chicago and completed at God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, with “Arletta” recorded separately by Dave Catching at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, California. The band shared the statement below regarding Nine:

“The music we make is a collective process of reconciliation, navigation, and reflection upon aging both as individuals and as a creative entity. Life has created very real distances between us, but the band continues to be at the center, and this creative collaboration is a way of charting the passage of time while also giving us a reason to look to the future.”

R&B icon Erykah Badu and prolific hip-hop producer The Alchemist released their debut collaborative album, Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment, via Control FREAQ Records/Young Recordings. Recorded over 18 months between Dallas and Los Angeles, the 16-track album features Westside Gunn and Joi on “Crossfade,” DRAM on “Valentine,” Steve Lacy on “To The Moon (Plan C),” Thundercat on “They Ain’t You,” Earl Sweatshirt on “I Know That Man” and Kamasi Washington on “Black Box.”