American Aquarium

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 & roll statement — 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 a round 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." If earlier albums offered glimpses of a man in his 20s, making his way through a haze of uncertainty, heartache, and bad behavior, then New Ways to Lose finds Barham writing from a place of hard-won maturity. He's not just a songwriter anymore; 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, the socioeconomic wreckage of unconstitutional politics, and even the devastation of losing a beloved pet, making room for tenderness and gratitude amidst the sonic stomp of his band. "Twin Flames," written for his wife, stands as one of the most vulnerable love songs of his whole career, a reflection of a full-grown man no longer afraid to say exactly what he means.

The album's title comes from legendary NC State Wolfpack announcer Gary Hahn, whose on-air quips — "and NC State finds a new way to lose today" — became metaphors for both sports fandom and the music business. "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. Along the way, American Aquarium have earned an international audience, headlined bucket-list venues like the Ryman Auditorium and Red Rocks, and even launched their own festival, Road to Raleigh, all without a major label, mainstream radio.