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Event

American Aquarium

When
in 23D
20.08.2026 · 20:00 · UTC-5
Where
Chicago
Thalia Hall
Intent
Event
About

20 years. 20 records. Over 4,000 shows. And somehow, American Aquarium are still finding new ways to surprise us. On New Ways to Lose, frontman BJ Barham and his band of road warriors turn two decades of survival into a driving, deeply-felt rock one built on resilience, reinvention, and the hard-earned clarity that only comes with time. "We've always been outsiders," says Barham, whose songwriting has steered the group through lineup changes, heartache, addiction, recovery, a global pandemic, and every other obstacle imaginable. Long before algorithms and viral breakthroughs spelled out success in the music industry, American Aquarium earned their place the old-school way: through relentless touring and a stubborn refusal to disappear, even when the odds suggested they should. New Ways to Lose turns that outsider status into armor. Produced once again by multi-time Grammy winner Shooter Jennings, the album was recorded in Los Angeles over a 10-day session that captured the band at their most immediate and alive. Much of the record was tracked live, with Jennings encouraging spontaneity and instinct over perfection, while around of overdubs offered the opportunity to add three-part harmonies and horn arrangements to the songs. The result is a muscular, cinematic record that embraces both sides of American Aquarium's identity: the bruised confessionals of a songwriter who's already spent decades sharpening his craft, and the full-throttle release of an anthemic, amplified rock & roll band. Hot-wired with the same electricity as their live show, New Ways to Lose nods to heartland heroes like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Neil Young while remaining unmistakably American Aquarium. For Barham who formed the band in 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina, the album isn't just a snapshot on a band at its peak. It's 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."

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