Today, Neal Francis releases his sophomore record In Plain Sight, via ATO Records. The record is a body of work both strangely enchanted and painfully self-aware, unfolding in songs sparked from Greek myths and frenzied dreams and late-night drives in the depths of summer delirium. True to its charming complexity, the singer/songwriter/pianist’s second full-length came to life over the course of a tumultuous year spent living in a possibly haunted church in Chicago. The result: a portrait of profound upheaval and weary resilience, presented in a kaleidoscopic sound that’s endlessly absorbing

Order In Plain Sight on cherry-red colored vinyl here.

“When I started the process of writing these songs, I was so emotionally out-of-sorts and really kind of hopeless that I’d be able to come up with anything,” says Francis. “But then I sat down and started working, and embraced whatever inspiration came my way. Sometimes it felt like beating my head against a wall, but I tried to trust that it would lead somewhere. The whole thing was like a weird dream—this very strange time of terrible, wonderful isolation.”

Today, My Morning Jacket releases their self-titled 9th studio album and reaffirms the rarefied magic that’s made them so beloved, embedding every groove with moments of discovery, revelation, and ecstatic catharsis. Produced and engineered by James over two multi-week sessions at Los Angeles, CA’s 64 Sound, the album came to life after what looked like a permanent hiatus for the band. But after performing four shows in summer 2019 – beginning with two mind-blowing nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre – My Morning Jacket was overcome with the urge to carry on. That sense of purpose can be heard throughout the thrillingly expansive My Morning Jacket. 

The album is available digitally and in various physical formats, including CD, LP and deluxe edition 2xLP colored vinyl (exclusive to ATO & MMJ online stores) here.

“I hope this album brings people a lot of joy and relief, especially since we’ve all been cooped up for so long,” says Jim James. “I know that feeling you get from driving around blasting music you love, or even lying in bed and crying to the music you love. The fact that we’re able to be a part of people’s lives in that way is so magical to us, and it feels really good that we’re still around to keep doing that.”

A fever dream in sonic form, St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ new album The Alien Coast marks the most adventurous and original output yet from an ever-evolving musical powerhouse, out January 28, 2022. In a profound shift for the Alabama-bred eight-piece—the band’s fourth full-length strays far from the time-bending soul of past work like their 2014 debut, arriving at a dizzying convergence of rock & roll and R&B, psychedelia and stoner metal, gospel and jazz-funk. At turns explosive, elegant, and thrillingly unhinged, that sound makes for a majestic backdrop to St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ visceral exploration of the strangest dimensions of the human psyche.

Pre-order the “ghostly smoke” deluxe edition vinyl here.

“This album was birthed through the idea of falling asleep in a hotel and having a sequence of nightmares, then waking up and missing home so badly,” says Janeway. In creating the ultra-vivid dreamscape threaded throughout The Alien Coast, the band’s chief lyricist drew inspiration from such disparate sources as Greek mythology, dystopian sci-fi, 17th-century Italian sculpture, and colonial-period history books. “The title actually came from reading about the history of the Gulf of Mexico, which is home for us,” Janeway notes. “When the settlers—or invaders, really—first came to the Gulf Coast they couldn’t figure out what it was and started referring to it as the Alien Coast. That term really stuck with me, partly because it feels almost apocalyptic.”

Alabama Shakes has announced a deluxe edition reissue of their groundbreaking sophomore album, Sound & Color, out now!

The repackaged set – available in digital, CD, and 2-disc vinyl formats – features seven bonus tracks pulled from unreleased studio material, b-sides, and live songs cut at the world-renowned Capitol Records Studio A., plus reimagined artwork by Grammy-winning art director Frank Harkins and new photos.

Order the Sound & Color Deluxe 2xLP here.

Today, SOJA, the internationally acclaimed, two-time GRAMMY-nominated eight-piece from Washington D.C., have released their highly anticipated new album Beauty in the Silence. Fueled by the sheer force of the band’s connection and chemistry, Beauty in the Silence makes for a much-needed antidote to fractured times, infusing so much warmth and wisdom and unstoppable joy into each and every track.

Like 2014’s acclaimed Amid the Noise and Haste (a GRAMMY nominee for Best Reggae Album), the title to Beauty in the Silence references the opening lines of Max Ehrmann’s beloved poem “Desiderata”: Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.

“My dad had that poem memorized, and before I’d go out on tour he’d sort of whisper it in my ear,” said Hemphill.“To me it’s a reminder of what we lose when we get caught up in the distractions all around us. You get so used to life being loud and fast and goal-oriented, but then you go out in nature and hear the silence and realize, ‘Damn, I got tricked.’ Life doesn’t have to be all go, go, go. The real key to life is in being still.”

Order the album on limited-edition transparent with gold splatter vinyl here.