Alabama Shakes Announce First Album In Over A Decade 'I Must Be Dreaming'
(Island) Alabama Shakes announce their long-awaited third studio album, I Must Be Dreaming, arriving August 28 via Island Records. Marking the band's first album in more than a decade, the announcement arrives alongside the announcement of the new single "I Feel Hope Coming," available everywhere Friday, July 10.
Produced by Alabama Shakes alongside six-time GRAMMY Award winner Shawn Everett, I Must Be Dreaming expands on the fearless musical exploration that defined the band's landmark Sound & Color. Recorded in Nashville at Sound Emporium Studios and Blackbird Studio, the album leans into a richly textured, psychedelic soul sound while exploring love, mortality, human connection, and the increasingly surreal contradictions of modern life.
The album's upcoming single, "I Feel Hope Coming," captures the heart of that journey. Built around luminous textures, childlike harmonies, and an understated optimism, the song is a tender yet galvanizing call to resist systems that dehumanize and move toward a future rooted in collective care.
"This younger generation makes me feel hopeful because they can see through all the political lies-that song's about holding onto that hope, and refusing to give up," says Brittany Howard on the track. Heath Fogg adds, "I'm really happy that song exists. It came from such a joyful moment of collaboration, and exemplifies everything I love about this band being reborn."
"I Feel Hope Coming" follows the acclaimed singles "Another Life" and "American Dream," each revealing a different facet of I Must Be Dreaming. While "Another Life" explored the enduring nature of love and "American Dream" confronted the unraveling of once-shared ideals, the new single offers a hopeful counterbalance, completing an emotional portrait of a record that embraces uncertainty while insisting that hope, love, and community remain worth fighting for.
The album's title speaks directly to that duality. "There's a double meaning to it," Howard explains. "It could be saying, 'I must be dreaming, because the world is so f***ing crazy right now.' But it could also mean, 'I must be dreaming, because the world is so incredibly beautiful.' Both those things can be true at once."
Written organically after the band reunited in late 2024, I Must Be Dreaming emerged from an unusually open-ended creative process that allowed songs to evolve in real time. Rediscovering the chemistry that first made Alabama Shakes one of rock's most singular bands, Brittany Howard, Heath Fogg, and Zac Cockrell embraced spontaneity in the studio, expanding their sonic palette with instruments such as flute, harpsichord, and sitar, as well as richly layered vocal arrangements. The result is their most adventurous and emotionally resonant album to date.
In support of I Must Be Dreaming, Alabama Shakes are currently in the midst of an extensive worldwide headline tour spanning North America and Europe. Highlights include appearances at major festivals, the band's first UK and European headline run in more than a decade, a landmark debut at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on September 2, four co-headline performances with Tedeschi Trucks Band, and select stadium dates supporting Zach Bryan. The tour concludes September 26 at Ohana Festival.
Since emerging from Athens, Alabama, Alabama Shakes have become one of the defining rock bands of the last decade. Their Platinum-certified debut Boys & Girls introduced the world to "Hold On," while 2015's Sound & Color debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earned three GRAMMY Awards-including Best Alternative Music Album-and cemented the band's reputation for fearless musical evolution. Hailed by The New York Times as an "unstoppable force of nature" and praised by Pitchfork for "[inventing] their own genesis," Alabama Shakes now begin a powerful new chapter with I Must Be Dreaming.
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