Don’t Miss New Album Out Today From Willie Nelson, Arooj Aftab, Swamp Dogg & 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 Willie Nelson, Arooj Aftab, Swamp Dogg, Richard Thompson, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Shaboozey, Crowded House, Sharon Van Etten, and Lucius. Read on for more insight into the records we have ready to spin.

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Willie Nelson – The Border

Willie Nelson builds upon his legendary country music career with the release of a new studio album entitled The Border through Legacy Recordings. The album takes its title from the lead single, “The Border,” a song co-written by Rodney Crowell and Allen Shamblin for Crowell’s 2019 album Texas. The 10-track album, the 91-year-old Nelson’s 75th solo studio record of new material, is the follow-up to Nelson’s last album of new material, 2022’s A Beautiful Time and his 2023 albums, Bluegrass and I Don’t Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard. Alongside “The Border,” the record features four new songs written by Nelson with his longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon, who also produced the record. The Border also includes Nelson’s recordings of compositions by Shawn Camp, Mike Reid and Bobby Tomberlin.

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Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

Arooj Aftab released a new album entitled Night Reign via Verve Records. The Pakistani singer, composer and producer recorded the album with Vijay Iyer, Cautious Clay, Chocolate Genius, Moor Mother, Petros Klampanis, James Francies, Kaki King, Joel Ross and Maeve Gilchrist. The record is the follow-up to Aftab’s critically acclaimed 2021 album Vulture Prince, which was her major label debut and led to a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist with its track “Mohabbat” winning for Best Global Music Performance. In 2023, Aftab teamed with Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily for the collaborative record Love In Exile. “Night” is the focus of the fittingly-titled nine-track album Night Reign.

“Entirely in her own voice and through her own story, she delves into the multifaceted, bold and fascinating realm that comes to life after dark. Some nights are for falling in love, some are for solitude and introspection, some are to be annoyed at a forced social gathering–and so go the stories of Night Reign,” proclaimed a press release heralding the album.

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Swamp Dogg – Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St

Swamp Dogg released a new album, album, Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St. Produced by Ryan Olson, Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St — Swamp Dogg’s first record on the John Prine co-founded Oh Boy Records — also contains guest spots from Margo Price, Jenny Lewis, Vernon Reid, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The Cactus Blossoms. The LP features an ace band including Noam Pikelny, Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas, Chris Scruggs, Billy Contreras and Kenny Vaughan.

“Not a lot of people talk about the true origins of bluegrass music, but it came from Black people,” the 81-year-old Swamp Dogg said. “The banjo, the washtub, all that stuff started with African Americans. We were playing it before it even had a name.”

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Richard Thompson – Ship To Shore

Ship To Shore is acclaimed guitarist Richard Thompson‘s latest entry in his 50-year career. The British musician produced the 12-track effort with engineer Chris Bittner at Applehead Studio in Woodstock, New York. Backing the 75-year-old Thompson was a group consisting of guitarist Bobby Eichorn, bassist Taras Prodaniuk, drummer Michael Jerome, fiddler David Mansfield and vocalist Zara Phillips. The folk rock icon pulled from relatable sources Ship To Shore, about which he stated:

“I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there. And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

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Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Her Way Out

Big Head Todd and the Monsters release a new album entitled Her Way Out via their own Big Records imprint. The 10-track Her Way Out marks the Colorado-based band’s 12th studio album and first since 2017’s New World Arisin’. Big Head Todd And The Monsters — guitarist/vocalist Todd Park Mohr, drummer Brian Nevin, bassist Rob Squires and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Lawton — previewed the album with the single, “Thunderbird.” Frontman Todd Park Mohr weighed in on “Thunderbird,” stating:

“Inspired by the film American Graffiti, ‘Thunderbird’ is a collection of one-liners from the film, knit together with a beat poet vibe – No one catches the Thunderbird in the end. It has an AC/DC-like guitar riff and a cinematic style vocal. ‘Thunderbird rising at the edge of town’, it’s all about drag racing and love never caught. ‘Spread out your wings and fly’ – we know you will like this song.”

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Shaboozey – Where I’ve Been, isn’t Where I’m Going

Where I’ve Been, isn’t Where I’m Going is singer-songwriter Shaboozey‘s third solo album. Arriving today through American Dogwood/Empire, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going includes guest spots by Paul Cauthen, Noah Cyrus and BigXthaPlug. The 12-track album comes on the heels of the Virginia native’s two features on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album that was released earlier this year. Shaboozey spoke about his genre-crossing approach the blends elements of country music with hip-hop, rock and other genres, telling COLORS:

“Sometimes I don’t feel I should rightfully be labeled as a country artist. I have peers who make country in its truest form. I don’t want to do them a disservice by labeling my music as country if it doesn’t attest to the style.

“This said, I’ve felt very accepted in the country community. There’s a push for diversity in country music nowadays—country artists from all over are breaking into the mainstream. Colter Wall from Canada and Gregory Alan Isakov from South Africa are proof that we’re approaching a more inclusive time. I feel like I’m standing in front of something untapped. It drives me to want to work with more country artists.

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Crowded House – Gravity Stairs

Members of the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame, Crowded House released Gravity Stairs, today through Lester Records/BMG. The storied band’s eighth album is their first since 2021’s Dreamers Are Waiting. Crowded House — frontman/founder Neil Finn, his sons Elroy Finn and Liam Finn, along with Nick Seymour and Mitchell Froom — recorded the new record with producer Steven Schram at sessions held in Australia, New Zealand, and California. Regarding the album title, Neil Finn stated:

“It’s a metaphor for getting a little older and becoming aware of your own mortality, your own physicality. Things are getting a little harder, and there’s more determination needed to get to the top, but there’s still the same compulsion to climb them.”

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Sharon Van Etten – Are We There (Anniversary Edition)

Sharon Van Etten celebrated the 10th anniversary of her 2014 album with a special reissue of Are We There, which came out today through Jagjaguwar. Are We There (Anniversary Edition) features “Every Time The Sun Comes Up (Alternate Version),” a reimagining produced by drummer Jorge Balbi and featuring Sharon’s current band: Balbi, guitarist Charley Damski, bassist Devin Hoff and keyboardist Teeny Lieberson. Van Etten’s fourth album, Are We There, followed her 2012 breakout record, Tramp. The singer-songwriter and guitarist worked with veteran producer Stewart Lerman on the 2014 LP. The album features Van Etten’s band at the time: Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick and Zeke Hutchins along with friends Dave Hartley and Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs, Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater), Jana Hunter (Lower Dens), Peter Broderick, Mackenzie Scott (TORRES), Stuart Bogie, Jacob C. Morris and Mickey Freeze. The late Richard Swift worked with Sharon on the final mix. Van Etten detailed the sessions and the Are We There era:

“The whole time I was making Are We There, I was commuting to Hobo Sound from an apartment in the city, and I took a train to the bus station and walked from the Lincoln tunnel to the studio in Weehawken, NJ. Making this record, my bandmates (Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick, and Zeke Hutchins) quickly became my family, and I realized I sought refuge in the studio. It was where I felt nurtured. It felt like home. I was able to find myself and I feel like that vulnerability and strength was captured through the collaborations on this album. The name of this album represents, for me, a place I departed from but with an acknowledgment that I haven’t yet arrived.”

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Lucius – Wildewoman (The New Recordings)

Lucius revamped their 2013 breakthrough album, Wildewoman as Wildewoman (The New Recordings), which was released today via Fantasy Records. Produced by Lucius drummer Dan Molad, Wildewoman (The New Recordings) “enriches the original album’s sonics and enhances its instrumentation, widening and deepening these remarkable songs,” according to press materials. Wildewoman (The New Recordings) sees frontwomen Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig calling on friends to guest including Marcus Mumford on “Go Home (The New Recording)” and Devon Gilfillian on “Tempest (The New Recording).” The vinyl and CD versions also feature Brandi Carlile on the previously unreleased fan favorite “Housewarming (The New Recording).”

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