Don’t Miss New Releases From The Black Crowes, Kacey Musgraves, Phish & More

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by The Black Crowes, Kacey Musgraves, Phish, Four Tet and Justin Timberlake. Read on for more insight into the records we have ready to spin.

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The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards

The Black Crowes are back with Happiness Bastards, their first studio album of new material since 2009’s Before The Frost… Until The Freeze. The record, described by lead single Chris Robinson as “our love letter to rock ‘n’ roll” was issued through Silver Arrow Records. Chris Robinson and brother Rich Robinson made peace in 2019 following a five-year breakup and have since led the band through over 150 live performances. The Robinson Brothers, bassist Sven Pipien and touring drummer Brian Griffin entered the studio in early 2023 with producer Jay Joyce. The Black Crowes came away with their 10th studio album, the 10-track Happiness Bastards. The record features a guest appearance from country singer Lainey Wilson on “Wilted Rose.”

“This album is a continuation of our story as a band,” explained Rich Robinson. “Our years of experience writing and making music and touring the world are represented in this record, and we were brilliantly guided by one of the best producers in the business, Jay Joyce. I am incredibly proud of what we put together.”

“Rich and I are always writing and creating music; that has never stopped for us, and it is always where we find harmony together,” Chris Robinson added. “This record represents that.”

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Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well

Kacey Musgraves new album, Deeper Well, is out today via Interscope/MCA Nashville. Musgraves teamed back up with familiar collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk to co-produce the follow-up to her 2021 album, star-crossed. While Musgraves wrote most of Deeper Well’s 14 tracks with Tashian and Fitchuk, she also reunited with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne for “The Architect.” Deeper Well sees Musgraves highlighting the “subtle nuances of life,” as per a press release, “focusing on moments of life that often go unnoticed… Saturn returns, cardinals embody a dead friend, love is given and taken, streets rush by, belongings are packed and old chapters deserted, new love blooms, jade bracelets serve as talismans, deep lessons emerge, small details define everything, the woods are a refuge and New York City serves as the same gleaming beacon as Oz.” The seven-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter recorded the new release at the legendary Electric Lady studios in New York City. Musgraves drew inspiration for the album from the energy and rich musical history of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

“I was seeking some different environmental energy,” Musgraves stated, “and Electric Lady has the best mojo. Great ghosts.”

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Phish – The Spectrum ’97

Phish issued The Spectrum ‘97 box set, an archival release comprised of the band’s Fall Tour 1997 shows at The Spectrum in Philadelphia on December 2 and December 3. Available digitally and as a six-CD box set, the 33-song release includes recordings of both shows in their entirety, as well as bonus soundcheck tracks. Former Phish sound engineer Paul Languedoc originally taped the shows. The Spectrum ‘97 was mixed from multitrack by Jon Altschiller and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. Phish’s arrival at The Spectrum came near the middle of their landmark 1997 Fall Tour. The band’s show on December 2 was highlighted by the start of the second set made up of “Mike’s Song” segueing into “Simple,” which featured fun interplay between guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell, followed by the first “Dog Faced Boy” in over a year and a funky “Ya Mar” featuring a “Crosseyed And Painless” tease and playful tweaking of the lyrics. The notable sequence was punctuated with an energetic “Weekapaug Groove.”

When Phish returned to The Spectrum on December 3, 1997, they once again brought the funk during well-jammed first set “Drowned.” After ending the first set with the outstanding run of “Gumbo” (listen above) into “2001” into “You Enjoy Myself,” the second set brought several more memorable musical moments. A potent “David Bowie” kicked off the second half of the December 3 show. A transition into “Possum” set up one of the funkiest jams of Fall ‘97 which eventually transitioned into “Prince Caspian.” Set two was filled in with an electrifying “Frankenstein” and a soaring “Harry Hood.” The blues classic “Crossroads” encore capped the two-nighter at The Spectrum.

Purchase Phish – The Spectrum ’97

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Four Tet – Three

Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) followed a busy last couple of years with today’s release of his latest album, Three, which arrived via Text Records. The eight-song album written and produced by Hebden was announced with little additional information. According to the label’s description of the new album:

Three capitalises on a busy decade in progress with an amalgamation of all things we love from Four Tet: ambient sonics meeting crisp club beats, glorious MIDI instruments paired with noise and intricate texture, celebrations of his eclectic influences from hip hop, folk, electronic and abstract sound art that coalesce ever so sweetly into a concise tracklist bursting with life.

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Justin Timberlake – Everything I Thought It Was

Pop star Justin Timberlake issued his sixth album as a solo artist, Everything I Thought It Was, today through RCA Records. The 18-track set is Timberlake’s first full-length release since 2018’s Man Of The Woods. The new record includes production provided by Calvin Harris, Louis Bell, Cirkut, Danja, Andrew DeRoberts, Rob Knox, Angel López, Ryan Tedder, Federico Vindver and longtime Timberlake collaborator Timbaland. Guests appearing the album include Fireboy DML and Tobe Nwigwe. The song “Paradise” also sees Timberlake reunited with is *NSYNC bandmates.

“I think there are moments that are incredibly honest, but also, there’s a lot of fucking fun on this album,” Timberlake told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

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Compiled by Team JamBase.