Multiple Grammy-winning blues rockers Alabama Shakes have launched their first original music since 2015's Sound & Color album. Another Life, which features a typically soulful vocal from Bittany Howard, is the precursor of more to come, with the band promising they'll "be unleashing more music in the near future."
"When we wrote Another Life, I was thinking about all the lives we carry," says Howard. "The ones we’re living right now, the ones that slipped away because of different choices, the what ifs, the what wasn’t meant to be, the goodbyes, and the chance encounters that feel divine.
"This song is about those threads and how they stretch across time and space, connecting every version of who we are. It’s about letting them come together, letting them harmonise, and realising that goodbye isn’t really goodbye. It’s more like I’ll see you later. A collective story that never stops unfolding. I’m glad we opened this door into this reality of us making music together again."
Since the release of Sound & Color, Howard has released two solo albums, while band activity has been limited to a cover of Memphis Minnie's Killer Diller Blues, which appeared on the soundtrack of the documentary The American Epic Sessions.
Howard is joined by bassist Zac Cockrell and guitarist Heath Fogg on the new recording, with Alabama Shakes now officially a three-piece following the arrest of drummer Steven Johnson on child abuse charges in 2021. The charges against Johnson were later dismissed, but not before he had been asked to resign.
In February, the band returned to the stage at Druid City Music Hall in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and a full tour kicked off in July. The remaining dates are below.
Alabama Shakes 2025 Tour
Sep 04: Milwaukee Miller High Life Theatre, WI ^
Sep 05: Rochester Hills Meadow Brooke Amphitheatre, MI ^
Sep 06: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON #
Sep 08: Cleveland Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, OH ^
Sep 09: Pittsburgh Stage AE Outdoors, PA ^
Sep 11: Louisville Bourbon & Beyond Festival, KY
Sep 14: Boston MGM Music Hall at Fenway, MA *
Sep 15: Boston MGM Music Hall at Fenway, MA *
Sep 17: Forest Hills Stadium, NY +
Sep 18: Philadelphia, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, PA *
Sep 19: Washington The Anthem, DC *
Sep 23: New Orleans Saenger Theatre, LA
Sep 25: Austin Moody Center, TX =
Sep 26: Houston 713 Music Hall, TX =
Sep 27: Irving The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, TX =
^ with Sam Evian
# with Bahamas
* with The Budos Band
+ with El Michaels Affair
= with Greyhounds
