LOS ANGELES, CA- It feels good to say this out loud: Alabama Shakes are back. After a decade away, the Grammy-winning powerhouse has returned with their new single “Another Life,” and it’s everything I didn’t know I was missing.
Brittany Howard has been keeping us fed with brilliant solo records, but there’s something about her with Alabama Shakes that hits different. Her voice, already one of the most recognizable in modern rock, takes on a new electricity when it’s paired with Heath Fogg’s guitar and Zac Cockrell’s bass. Together, they create that raw, blues-soaked alchemy that made Sound & Color and Boys & Girls such generational records.
“Another Life” feels like the band never left but somehow also sounds like they’ve sharpened their edges with time. It’s hazy and soulful, built around Howard’s gut-punch delivery as she sings about second chances and all the lives we carry with us. The track crescendos into a fiery solo that feels ripped straight out of a smoky club, reminding us why this band once defined the pulse of modern rock.
Listening to “Another Life,” I can’t help but hear more than just a love song. It almost feels like Alabama Shakes are addressing their own story as a band. The refrain of “Can we try again? Can we try in another life?” lands like a wink at the decade apart, as if Brittany Howard and the group are acknowledging the detours and side projects that filled the gap. Those projects were vital and beautiful in their own right, but maybe they were also “another life”… while the root of their essence, the heart of their chemistry, was always Alabama Shakes.
There’s a bittersweetness in the verses about goodbyes, missteps, and wondering if there’s something better “next time,” which could just as easily speak to personal relationships as to the band’s hiatus. But now, with their return, it feels like they’re answering their own question: yes, we can try again. By stepping back into the room together, they’ve proven that Alabama Shakes wasn’t a closed chapter, but the core of who they are musically. The side lives were necessary explorations; this reunion feels like coming home.
For me, this return is more than just another reunion. Brittany Howard on her own is stellar, but Brittany with Alabama Shakes is another version of special that the world needs more of. Their chemistry is undeniable, and hearing them together again feels like a restoration of something sacred in music.
Alabama Shakes are back, and if “Another Life” is a glimpse of what’s to come, then we’re about to witness a band stepping into yet another legendary chapter.
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TOUR DATES
09/04 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre #
09/05 – Rochester Hills, MI @ Meadow Brook Amphitheatre #
09/06 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage %
09/08 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacob’s Pavilion #
09/09 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE (Outdoors) #
09/11 – Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond Festival
09/13 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Sea.Hear.Now Festival
09/14 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway <
09/15 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway <
09/17 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium >
09/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at The Mann <
09/19 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem <
09/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
09/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Saenger Theatre *
09/25 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center ‡
09/26 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall ‡
09/27 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory ‡
11/15 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Festival
# = w/ Sam Evian
% = w/ Bahamas
< = w/ The Budos Band
> = w/ El Michels Affair
* = w/ Concurrence
‡ = w/Greyhounds
