American Aquarium's new album 'The Fear Of Standing Still' is out now
American Aquarium
Are “A Rock Band At The Top Of Its Game” (Rolling Stone) On New Album
The Fear of Standing Still, produced by Shooter Jennings, is out now
via Losing Side Records/Thirty Tigers
LISTEN HERE
Watch live performances:
'Crier' / 'Cherokee Purples' / 'Messy as a Magnolia'
Playing The UK
The Long Road Festival, August 23rd
American Aquarium, for nearly two decades, have pushed toward that rare form of rock-and-roll that’s revelatory in every sense. On The Fear of Standing Still, their latest album out now via Losing Side Records/Thirty Tigers, the North Carolina-bred band endlessly match their gritty breed of country-rock with band leader/songwriter BJ Barham’s bravest and most incisive songwriting to date.
As he reflects on matters both personal and sociocultural—e.g., the complexity of Southern identity, the intersection of generational trauma and the dismantling of reproductive rights—American Aquarium instill every moment of The Fear of Standing Still with equal parts unbridled spirit and illuminating empathy.
Praise for The Fear of Standing Still
“The sound of a rock band at the top of its game, providing a playground for Barham’s intensely personal and decidedly country-bent lyrics.”
-Rolling Stone
“One of music’s most unsung and incisive storytellers.”
-Garden & Gun
“While Barham is part of a host of Southern songwriters looking to broaden and complicate the scope and vision of the region, few are as exacting and forthright in that purpose. God bless him for it.”
-No Depression
Recorded live at the legendary Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, The Fear of Standing Still marks American Aquarium’s second outing with producer Shooter Jennings—a three-time Grammy winner who also helmed production on 2020’s critically lauded Lamentations, as well as albums from the likes of Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker.
In a departure from the stripped-down subtlety of 2022’s Chicamacomico (a largely acoustic rumination on grief), the band’s tenth studio LP piles on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-charging rhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics. “In our live show the band’s like a freight train that never lets up, and for this record I really wanted to showcase how big and anthemic we can be,” notes Barham, whose bandmates include guitarist Shane Boeker, pedal-steel guitarist Neil Jones, keyboardist Rhett Huffman, drummer Ryan Van Fleet, and bassist Alden Hedges.
Mixed by four-time Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker (Queens of the Stone Age, Emmylou Harris), The Fear of Standing Still shares its title with one of the first songs Barham wrote for the album—a soul-baring look at how raising a family has radically altered his priorities and perspective.
In the process of creating what he refers to as “a record about growing up and growing older,” Barham also found his songwriting closely informed by his ten years of sobriety, as well as his ever-deepening connection with American Aquarium’s community of fans.
“Whenever someone tells me that one of our songs helped them in some way, it encourages me to be more and more open—almost like peeling a layer off an onion,” he says. “This album is a writer 18 years into his career, peeling away the next layer and seeing just how human we can make this thing.”
American Aquarium will be coming to the UK in August and playing at The Long Road Festival on Fri 23rd. For more information and all tour dates please head to the band’s website here.
