American Aquarium’s new album, New Ways to Lose, will be released on 26th June 2026 via Losing Side Records/Thirty Tigers. After an extensive North American tour, the band will be returning to Europe for dates in the UK and the Netherlands in November.
Produced once again by multi-time Grammy winner Shooter Jennings, New Ways to Lose was recorded in Los Angeles over a 10-day session. Much of the record was tracked live, with Jennings apparently encouraging spontaneity and instinct over perfection, while a round of overdubs offered the opportunity to add three-part harmonies and horn arrangements to the songs. The result is a record that embraces both sides of American Aquarium’s identity: the bruised confessionals of a songwriter who’s already spent years sharpening his craft, and the full-throttle release of an anthemic, rock & roll band.
For frontman BJ Barham — who formed the band in 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina — the album is a personal turning point, too. “All of my records are yearbooks,” he says. “Twenty years from now, I’ll pull them off the shelf and remember exactly who I was when I wrote them.” New Ways to Lose finds Barham writing from a place of hard-won maturity. He’s not just a songwriter; he’s a husband, father, and bandleader who’s fully comfortable confronting the dark corners of the human experience. Across these ten songs, he tackles themes like the downfall of small-town America, the yearning for true connection, and the socioeconomic wreckage of unconstitutional politics.
The album’s title comes from NC State Wolfpack announcer Gary Hahn. “No matter what success you find, you’re always looking up the ladder at what you don’t have,” says Barham, who’s hand-carved a fiercely independent career outside the traditional machinery of the industry. “It’s about trying so hard to win at something,” he adds, “but always finding a way to lose at it.”
Released independently through Barham’s own Losing Side Records, the album doubles down on the freedom that American Aquarium have spent two decades fighting for. They own their publishing and are still doing things their own way, including releasing the album just two weeks after announcing it. “We take our hits, and we get back up,” Barham says, “and we do what we do. There are three things you can count on: death, taxes, and American Aquarium showing up to your town once a year to play a rock & roll show.”
You can see the video for single History Repeats Itself below.
The band heads to the UK in November following an appearance at the Take Root Festival in the Netherlands. Tickets can be found at this link.
American Aquarium 2026 Tour Dates:
November 7 – Groningen, NL – Take Root Festival
November 8 – Hassocks, UK – Mid Sussex Music Hall
November 9 – London, UK – The 100 Club
November 10 – Cambridge, UK – Mash
November 11 – Manchester, UK – New Century
November 12 – Bristol, UK – Thekla
