American Aquarium announce new album "New Ways to Lose" and NL / UK tour

20 years. 20 albums. More than 4,000 shows. American Aquarium have built their reputation the hard way: one stage, one town, and one unforgettable live show at a time. On their latest album New Ways to Lose, frontman BJ Barham and his longtime band deliver a powerful, deeply human rock & roll record shaped by resilience, reinvention, and two decades of surviving on their own terms.

Produced by multi-Grammy winner Shooter Jennings, the album captures American Aquarium at their most immediate and electrifying. Recorded largely live in Los Angeles, New Ways to Lose balances heartland rock energy with the emotional honesty that has defined the band since their beginnings in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2006. Echoes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Neil Young run through the songs, but the voice and vision remain unmistakably American Aquarium.

For Barham, the album marks both a creative peak and a personal turning point. No longer just documenting heartbreak and life on the road, he now writes from the perspective of a husband, father, and survivor who has weathered addiction, loss, recovery, and the uncertainty of a changing world. Across the album, themes of connection, small-town decline, modern America, and hard-earned hope unfold with the raw sincerity fans have come to expect.

The title New Ways to Lose reflects the band’s fiercely independent journey through an industry that rarely made space for outsiders. Without major label backing or mainstream radio support, American Aquarium have spent two decades building a loyal international audience entirely on their own terms. Through lineup changes, endless touring, and shifting musical landscapes, the band has never stopped moving forward.

Released through Barham’s own Losing Side Records, the album also captures the intensity of the band’s celebrated live performances — towering choruses, roaring guitars, piano-driven arrangements, and anthemic hooks that channel the spirit of classic American rock & roll while sounding completely contemporary.

And American Aquarium will once again bring that energy overseas in 2026, with a select number of European dates including a festival appearance in the Netherlands and a run of UK shows.