Photo by Bobbi Rich
“‘I Must Be Dreaming’ reveals a group still thrumming with creative purpose.” - Los Angeles Times
“It was worth the wait.” - Garden & Gun
“‘I Must Be Dreaming’ represents an evolution of the band’s sound while clarifying why it stood out from the retro-rock horde in the first place.” - Wall Street Journal
“New Shakes can sound like the Motown house band giving Berry Gordy a contusion by piling on too much fuzz… or like greasy ’70s funk bands that supplied unforgettable licks for ’90s hip-hop classics.” - New York Magazine
“Howard fronted the band with a commanding stage presence, barbed lead guitar lines and a voice that can be a gentle lilt or a tsunami.” - The New York Times
August 28, 2026 – Today, iconic multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning band Alabama Shakes proudly present their long-awaited third studio album, I Must Be Dreaming, out now via Island Records. Listen to the album HERE.
It’s been over ten years since the group released a full-length album, but the wait is finally over, and it was undoubtedly worth it. The trio delivers a fiery body of work teeming with raw feeling and charged with the uncanny musicality of three longtime friends. Blending their signature mix of alt-rock, blues, and soul with renewed intensity, I Must Be Dreaming commands attention, howls for change, and overflows with truth about a world in need of healing as it dispenses the best medicine of all: music.
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.
At the heart of the record, "I Feel Hope Coming" captures 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."
Previously released tracks "Garden," "I Feel Hope Coming," "Another Life," and "American Dream" offered glimpses into I Must Be Dreaming, each revealing a different facet of the album’s expansive sound and emotional depth. Consequence praised "I Feel Hope Coming" for blending “smooth acoustic and dreamy keys with atmospheric electric guitar and foundational bass,” all “saturated with vintage warmth” beneath Brittany Howard’s assured vocals. "Another Life," the group’s first new song in a decade, marked their long-awaited return, with NPR noting that the musicians had “freed themselves from the pressure to exclusively orient toward the past or future.” Together, the songs reflect the album’s wide emotional range, exploring love, disillusionment, hope, and human connection while capturing a band confidently moving forward on its own terms.
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 fucking 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."
Taking shape 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, along with 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 tour spanning North America and Europe. The band recently wrapped their first UK and European headline run in over a decade and up next, Alabama Shakes makes their debut at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on September 2. Later this fall, the band will stop at Cityfolk Festival, Borderland Music Festival, and Ohana fest plus they will re-join Zach Bryan on one of his stadium dates in Delaware.
Since emerging from Athens, Alabama, Alabama Shakes have become one of the defining rock bands of their generation. 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.
| 
