Don’t Miss New Albums From Lukas Nelson, S.G. Goodman, Big Gigantic & More

Singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson starts a new chapter with today’s release of his first solo album, American Romance. Last year, the band Nelson’s previous albums were recorded with, Promise Of The Real, went on an indefinite hiatus. The Shooter Jennings-produced American Romance features contributions from Sierra Ferrell, Stephen Wilson Jr., Anderson East, SistaStrings, Matt Chamberlain, Corey McCormick, Russ Pahl, Chris Powell, Brian Whelan and others.

“This album is the first chapter in a whole new era of my life as an artist,” Nelson revealed. “It’s a love story to the country that raised me. Diners and highways that carried me through the joy and pain that led to the music you hear now … It’s been a long and inspiring journey in [POTR]. This is an opportunity to experiment with some new colors in the palette, but we know we are always going to be there for each other.”

S.G. Goodman issued her third album Planting By The Signs, through her imprint Slough Water Records/Thirty Tigers. The Kentucky-native singer-songwriter recorded Planting By The Signs with co-producer Drew Vandenberg (who co-produced her sophomore album, 2022’s Teeth Marks) at the Nutt House in Sheffield, Alabama. Guitarist/songwriter Matt Rowan, Goodman’s regular collaborator who she reconciled with after a falling out between albums, appears on Planting By The Signs. Fellow Kentucky native Bonnie “Prince” Billy is featured on the song “Nature’s Child.” The 11-track Planting By The Signs gets its title from the historical practice of timing important life events to the lunar and planetary cycles. Speaking to the album’s titular theme, Goodman stated:

“As an ‘old story keeper,’ I’ve centered myself around the idea that passing down stories and sayings connects us through generations. This notion was a driving force in the creation of this album as a whole, as I was compelled to share the concept of planting by the signs with my nieces and nephews.”

Big Gigantic went big on collaborators for the newly released album, Fluorescence. The Colorado-based electronic duo of Dominic Lalli (sax/production) and Jeremy Salken (drums/production) recruited a guest for 11 of the 121 tracks making up the follow-up to 2022’s Brighter Future 2. The pair can be heard alongside featured appearances by Ganja White Night, Little Stranger, Daily Bread, Blanke, Lady Blackbird, ProbCause, DENM, ALIGN, NEIMY, Daniel Allan, HEYZ, Koastle, Emilia Ali, Parson James, and Bryn Christopher.

“A lot of heart and soul went into this project,” Big Gigantic wrote on social media. “There is so much depth on this album, from the funky, to the soul, the bass bangers, some high energy uptempo and even some downtempo chill vibes.”

After five years, HAIM released a new studio album, I quit, today through Columbia Records/Polydor. The trio of sisters — Este Haim, Danielle Haim and Alana Haim — tiled the new record after a scene in the 1996 Tom Hanks-directed movie That Thing You Do!. Former Vampire Weekend member co-produced the follow-up to 2020’s Women in Music Pt. III. alongside Danielle Haim. The I quit album cover was photographed by frequent HAIM collaborator, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.

“Quitting can be looked at as giving up in normal circumstances,” Este Haim told Apple Music. “We look at it as a new beginning and betting on yourself. We quit things that don’t serve us anymore. … We always think about our live show when we are writing songs, because that’s really where our heart is — playing live.”

James McMurtry returns with his first album in four years, The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, arriving today through New West Records. The Texas troubadour welcomed several guests on The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy including Sarah Jarosz, Charlie Sexton, Bonnie Whitmore, Bukka Allen and more. The album also features McMurtry’s band BettySoo on accordion/backing vocals, Cornbread (bass) Tim Holt (guitar) and Daren Hess (drums). The singer-songwriter reunited with Don Dixon (R.E.M., The Smithereens) to co-produce the LP. Dixon helmed McMurtry’s 1995 record, Where’d You Hide the Body?. McMurtry drew inspiration from his past with the album’s title track tracing hallucinations his father, famed novelist Larry McMurtry, experienced.

“The album title and that song comes from my stepmother, Faye,” McMurtry said. “After my dad passed, she asked me if he ever talked to me about his hallucinations. He’d gone into dementia for a while before he died, but hadn’t mentioned to me anything about seeing things. She told me his favorite hallucinations were the black dog and the wandering boy. I took them and applied them to a fictional character.”

Manchester, England’s GoGo Penguin shared a new album, Necessary Fictions, via XXIM/Sony. The genre-blending trio — Chris Illingworth (piano, synths), Nick Blacka (bass, synths), and newest member Jon Scott (drums) — recorded songs with vocals for the first time, working with guests Manchester Collective, British-Ugandan artist Daudi Matsiko and Rakhi Singh. Necessary Fictions is GoGo Penguin’s seventh studio album and follows their 2023 LP, Everything Is Going to Be OK.

“This is what we want to make right now, and it feels authentic,” Blacka said of the trio’s new music.