The Boxer Rebellion are back, and they’ve returned with something worth the wait. ‘The Second I’m Asleep,’ the revered alt-rock four-piece’s seventh studio album, is out now, their first full-length in nearly six years. Lead single “Hidden Meanings” arrives with a video that matches the emotional weight of lyricist Nathan Nicholson’s writing, four slowly unfolding minutes of self-examination that land somewhere between reckoning and relief.
The song’s central line cuts right to it: “I no longer wish you dead,” Nicholson writes, before the realisation sets in that the pain wasn’t caused by someone else at all. “I see hidden meanings / Follow me around / Like I’ve been burning down / My own house.” It’s the kind of lyric that stops you cold, and the band builds the track with enough space and restraint to let it breathe fully. This is songwriting that trusts the listener.
Recorded in an intense creative burst built around instinct over analysis, ‘The Second I’m Asleep’ maps emotional landscapes across ten songs, moments of clarity in chaos, letting go of old ghosts, and the ongoing work of understanding yourself in a rapidly-changing world. The original lineup of Nicholson, Adam Harrison, Piers Hewitt, and Andrew Smith enlisted engineers Rees Broomfield, Billy Bush, and Kevin Grainger to ensure the sonics match the emotional ambition of the material. The result is a record that sounds as powerful through drivetime radio as through audiophile speakers.
The band’s reactivation has already proven itself in front of real audiences. A performance at the 2025 Pinkpop festival in the Netherlands drew 50,000 fans, and over 14,000 tickets sold across UK and EU headline shows last year, including a sold-out London Koko. The Boxer Rebellion have always connected deeply with the people who find them, and ‘The Second I’m Asleep’ gives those listeners an album that feels genuinely essential.
Joe Bonamassa has delivered something that will be talked about for a long time. ‘B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100’ is out now, a 32-track, 40-plus artist tribute to B.B. King built from scratch to honor the centennial of one of music’s most towering figures. Curated and produced by Bonamassa alongside co-producer Josh Smith, the album brings together an intergenerational cast spanning blues, rock, and soul in what Bonamassa himself calls “the greatest gathering of blues artists in the last 50 years for a bespoke album that started from scratch.”
The centerpiece is impossible to overstate. “The Thrill Is Gone,” featuring Eric Clapton and Chaka Khan, arrives as the long-anticipated anchor of the entire project. Real strings, real horns, and a production approach built entirely around giving two legendary artists the space to honor one of the most iconic songs in the blues canon. “You can’t do a B.B. King tribute record and not do ‘The Thrill Is Gone,'” Bonamassa says. “The budget was whatever it cost, because you only get one chance to do this correctly. And I think we nailed it.”
The project began in January 2025 when Bonamassa realized that, despite King’s towering stature, no serious musical tribute was taking shape around the centennial. The first tracks were released on September 16, 2025, King’s 100th birthday, and the album unfolded in stages over the following months, allowing individual performances to stand on their own before the full scope came into view. Esquire named it among the Most Anticipated Albums of 2026. CBS Mornings explored Bonamassa’s personal history with King, who first invited him on tour at age 12.
That relationship is the beating heart of the entire project. Bonamassa’s early mentorship under King shaped his understanding of responsibility and stewardship within the blues community, values that guided every creative decision here. “We weren’t making sound-alikes,” he notes. “We played it in the spirit of B.B. King, but we did our own versions.” The result is an album that honors the source without being imprisoned by it. Each of the 32 tracks carries its own personality while serving a shared purpose.
The guest list reads like a who’s who of blues and rock royalty. Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Keb’ Mo’, Derek Trucks, George Benson, Warren Haynes, Slash, Larkin Poe, Trombone Shorty, Paul Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Bobby Rush, and many more all showing up and, as Bonamassa puts it, bringing their A-game. Proceeds from the album support the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, extending King’s legacy through education, preservation, and direct support for musicians. ‘B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100’ is available now on digital platforms, double CD, and 180-gram triple LP vinyl.
‘B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100’ Tracklist:
Disc 1:
Paying The Cost To Be The Boss feat. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Don’t Answer The Door feat. Marcus King
To Know You Is To Love You feat. Michael McDonald, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks
Let The Good Times Roll feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Noah Hunt
Sweet Little Angel feat. Buddy Guy
When It All Comes Down (I’ll Still Be Around) feat. Larry McCray
When Love Comes To Town feat. Slash, Shemekia Copeland & Myles Kennedy
The Thrill Is Gone feat. Chaka Khan & Eric Clapton
Watch Yourself feat. Jimmie Vaughan
Why I Sing The Blues feat. Bobby Rush
Sweet Sixteen feat. Jimmy Hall & Larry Carlton
Don’t You Want A Man Like Me feat. Larkin Poe
I’ll Survive feat. Keb’ Mo’
Heartbreaker feat. Trombone Shorty & Eric Gales
There Must Be A Better World Somewhere feat. George Benson
Chains And Things feat. Gary Clark Jr.
Disc 2:
How Blue Can You Get feat. Warren Haynes
You Upset Me Baby feat. Chris Cain
Ghetto Woman feat. Ivan Neville
Night Life feat. Paul Rodgers
Ain’t Nobody Home feat. Jade MacRae & Robben Ford
Bad Case Of Love feat. Joanne Shaw Taylor
Never Make A Move Too Soon feat. Dion
Three O’Clock Blues feat. Marc Broussard
Think It Over feat. Train & Chris Buck
It’s My Own Fault feat. Kim Wilson
Every Day I Have The Blues feat. D.K. Harrell
Please Accept My Love feat. John Nemeth
So Excited feat. Aloe Blacc
When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer feat. Dannielle De Andrea
Metal Church are back, and ‘Dead To Rights’ hits exactly as hard as the lineup behind it suggests. The West Coast thrash metal legends return with their thirteenth studio album, the first from a rebuilt lineup that pairs founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt with bass icon David Ellefson, powerhouse drummer Ken Mary, and dynamic new vocalist Brian Allen. On paper it reads like a dream team. On record it delivers.
Vanderhoof is candid about how close this album came to never existing. “The band was over, and I honestly didn’t see it being resurrected,” he says. “But somehow, it brought itself back to life, again.” That second chance energy runs through every track on the record, from the aggressive opening assault of “Brainwash Game” to the riff-driven finale “My Wrath.” Tracks like “Deep Cover Shakedown,” “The Show,” and “Wasted Time” deliver the signature Metal Church sound that has earned the band fans across four decades without sounding like a band coasting on nostalgia.
Lead single “F.A.F.O.,” released last November, already crossed 400,000 views on its accompanying video, a strong signal that the Metal Church faithful are very much paying attention. Produced by Vanderhoof and mixed and mastered by Zeuss at Planet Z, the album has the sonic weight to match its lineup’s collective pedigree. Ellefson and Mary form a rhythm section that gives Vanderhoof’s riffs exactly the foundation they need, and Allen brings the classic Metal Church vocal character without simply imitating what came before.
“I’m incredibly proud of these new songs; they hit hard,” Vanderhoof says. “If you enjoy classic Metal Church, you’re going to love this record.” Forty-plus years into a career that refused to stay dead, ‘Dead To Rights’ is proof that the drive is still there, and it’s still relentless.
Good Riddance have returned, and ‘Before The World Caves In’ arrives exactly when punk music needs a record like this most. The Santa Cruz melodic hardcore veterans release their tenth studio album, their first since 2019’s ‘Thoughts and Prayers,’ with lead single “There’s Still Tonight” setting the tone immediately. Seven years between records, and not a single step backward.
The band is direct about what they were after. “We wanted to make sure we were firing on all cylinders, delivering something potent, strident, and something that both longtime fans and people who are brand new to the band could sink their teeth into,” they share. “We’re hopeful that the album comes across with the severity and urgency of the times we are living in.” On the evidence of “There’s Still Tonight,” that urgency is fully intact and fully earned.
Formed in Santa Cruz in 1986, Good Riddance have spent four decades building a reputation on fast, aggressive songwriting and politically charged lyrics that helped define the sound and spirit of modern punk. Their catalog addresses social justice, personal responsibility, and resistance with an uncompromising honesty that has never felt performative. These are convictions, not aesthetic choices, and that distinction is audible in everything they do.
‘Before The World Caves In’ is the kind of record that reminds you why Good Riddance have maintained a dedicated global following across multiple eras of punk. The melody is sharp, the conviction is real, and the timing couldn’t be more pointed. Ten albums in, and this band remains one of the most vital voices the genre has.
The Warning and Carín León have made something genuinely unexpected, and “Love To Be Loved” is better for it. The Monterrey rock sister-trio and the Grammy-winning regional Mexican superstar tear down genre walls across a single that blends country, rock, and pop with an ease that suggests these worlds were never as far apart as anyone claimed. It’s also a historic moment for Carín León, marking his first-ever collaborative release sung entirely in English.
The song was co-written with Teddy Swims, Rob Grimaldi, Anton DeLost, Boy Matthews, and Neil Ormandy, with Grimaldi and DeLost producing. The result is a track that moves with real emotional weight. Carín opens with a heartbroken verse delivered between crunching power chords and a thick, driving rhythm from The Warning before vocalist and guitarist Dany Villarreal takes the chorus, “I just need love to be loved, to be loved, to be loved — by you,” into chantable, anthemic territory. Heavy riffing and a Richter Scale-worthy rhythm section push it over the edge.
The cinematic video sets the whole thing in a gritty dive bar. Card games, slot machines, pool, darts, and a shared restlessness beneath all the bravado, until Carín and the trio take the stage for a once-in-a-lifetime karaoke duet that brings the crowd to the dancefloor. It’s a visual that matches the song’s emotional core perfectly.
Carín, fresh off his Grammy win, puts the collaboration in direct cultural context. “Mexican music and Mexican rock are far from dead — they’re more present and stronger than ever,” he says. “I truly hope people connect with it, appreciate it, and carry it in their hearts for a long time.” The Warning are equally energised, calling it “a chance to explore new sounds” that “pushed us creatively and shows a new side of The Warning.” Both assessments land accurately. “Love To Be Loved” is out now, and it’s only the beginning of what 2026 has in store for this trio.
Brian Kelley has found his lane, and “93 In The Keys” proves he’s not leaving it anytime soon. The diamond-selling beach cowboy delivers another sun-drenched slice of Florida escapism, written by Summer Overstreet, Rian Ball, and Aaron Raitiere, and produced by frequent collaborator Katlin Owen. Warm rhythms, shimmering guitar tones, breezy melodies, and honeyed background vocals from Mandi Sagal make the track an instant mood shift regardless of where you’re listening from.
Kelley was hooked from the first listen. “The first time I heard ’93 In The Keys,’ it felt like somebody reached into my head and pulled out a memory,” he says. “I’ve always believed in great songwriting and the people who do it for a living, and this song connected with me right away.” The lyric earns that connection, opening on a spontaneous road escape to the Florida Keys with the radio on and a hand surfing the wind out the window, turning romantic at the chorus with tequila, lime, and the feeling of being nineteen again.
The music video is a genuine highlight. Kelley daydreams through a series of increasingly ridiculous winter scenes, sunbathing on the porch in a coat while using a foil-lined Hank Williams Jr. record as a tanning reflector, fishing in a kiddie pool, cooking his catch on a grill outside his Airstream, all intercut with home-movie-style footage that gives the whole thing a warm, lived-in charm. It’s the kind of video that makes you smile from the first frame and doesn’t let up.
“93 In The Keys” follows the recent video for “Bought A Boat,” a heartbreak-conquering anthem about making a spur-of-the-moment purchase and hitting the water in triumph. Together the two singles build a catalog that does exactly what great beach music is supposed to do: make escape feel possible, immediate, and deeply appealing. Kelley’s Surf Post Sessions, the massively popular intimate concert series hosted in the backyard of his Tribe Kelley Surf Post in Grayton Beach, Florida, has sold out over 60 headlining shows since 2022 and continues to be one of country music’s most beloved live experiences.
Jonathan Cain has spent decades writing songs that connect. As a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and the keyboard force behind Journey, he’s helped craft some of the most enduring anthems in rock history. “Only A Prayer Away” comes from a different place entirely, a deeply personal gospel single that carries the same directness and emotional clarity that has defined his best work, now pointed squarely toward faith and healing.
The song was born from a late-night moment watching pastor and Harvest Crusades founder Greg Laurie on television. “I’m up late one night and I see Greg Laurie walking on the beach sharing the Gospel and proclaiming that ‘God is only a prayer away,'” Cain recalls. “And then I just went, ‘Oh man, that’s a song.'” He shared the newly written track with Laurie at the National Day of Prayer in Washington DC, and Laurie later premiered it on his national radio broadcast, generating an outpouring of listener testimonies. “People were calling in, sharing how their life had changed,” Cain says. “It was phenomenal.”
Produced by Cain himself, mixed by David Kalmusky, and mastered by Grammy Award-winning Adam Ayan, the single was recorded at Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville. A six-song EP followed, and both are out now. Laurie, who contributed to the song’s inspiration, is direct in his endorsement: “It’s a beautiful reminder that no matter where you are or what you’re facing, God truly is only a prayer away.”
The single arrives as Cain continues one of the busiest stretches of his career. Journey’s massive 60-city Final Frontier Tour 2026 is currently underway, running through July 2 in Laredo, Texas. For an artist whose catalog spans rock royalty and personal faith in equal measure, “Only A Prayer Away” is a reminder that the two have never been mutually exclusive.
49 Winchester have announced ‘Change of Plans,’ their forthcoming album arriving May 15, and the lead single “Pardon Me” makes an immediate case for why this record matters. The Virginia-based six-piece pair their signature Appalachian grit with a reflective, forward-looking perspective that signals a genuine artistic evolution without losing a single thread of what made them compelling in the first place. This is a band at a creative peak, and they know it.
The album was executive produced by Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb at his recording studio in Savannah, Georgia. Cobb’s resume, which includes Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson, speaks for itself, and his ear for rooted, authentic American music is exactly the right fit for what 49 Winchester are building here. ‘Change of Plans’ expands their sonic palette while keeping the lived-in storytelling that has defined their career at the centre of everything.
“Pardon Me” balances rugged instrumentation with vulnerability and emotional honesty in a way that feels earned rather than performed. It follows the band’s debut release under Lucille Records/MCA, a powerful cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” which announced the new partnership with real confidence. The Virginia group has been building a dedicated fanbase through relentless road work and electrifying live shows, including two nights at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium last November.
The touring schedule in 2026 reflects how far this band has come. Alongside their own headline run, 49 Winchester will support Eric Church and Tim McGraw throughout the year, putting them in front of some of the largest country audiences in North America. ‘Change of Plans’ arrives May 15, and “Pardon Me” is out now.
Charlie Puth has released “Cry,” and it’s one of the most emotionally direct things he’s put his name to. Featuring the legendary Kenny G on saxophone, the single was written as a reflection on family, growth, and the pressure people put on themselves to hold it all together. “It’s not for nothing, feeling something — you know everybody cries,” the lyric goes, and Puth means every word of it. Kenny G’s saxophone doesn’t decorate the track so much as deepen it, adding a warmth that matches the song’s central message perfectly.
Puth is clear about where the song comes from. “I grew up watching people I admire carry emotional weight quietly,” he explains. “This song is a reminder that expressing emotion is not weakness — it’s human, and sometimes it’s exactly what helps you grow.” That kind of lyrical honesty, grounded in real observation rather than abstract sentiment, is what separates “Cry” from a lesser ballad. It lands because it’s specific.
“Cry” is the third single from his album ‘Whatever’s Clever!,’ which is out now and has already introduced a new chapter in Puth’s catalog. The record arrives as Puth prepares to take the music to arenas across North America and eventually Europe and the UK, beginning with the Whatever’s Clever! World Tour kicking off April 22 at Viejas Arena in San Diego. Thirty-four North American dates with his full band before the overseas run begins. This is a major touring cycle behind a major record.
For an artist who has spent his career demonstrating that technical precision and genuine emotion aren’t mutually exclusive, “Cry” is another strong entry in a catalog that keeps growing in depth and ambition.
Spotify has launched a new beta feature called About the Song, and it addresses something every curious listener has felt at one point or another. A track hits you hard, and you immediately want to know where it came from, what inspired it, what was happening in the artist’s life when it was written. Now that context lives directly inside the Now Playing view, no browser tab required.
The feature surfaces short, swipeable story cards while you listen, pulling from third-party sources to deliver behind-the-scenes details and context about the track playing in real time. It’s a lean, well-placed addition to the listening experience, designed to deepen the connection between a song and the person hearing it without interrupting the flow of actually listening.
About the Song is currently in beta for Premium users on iOS and Android in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, with English-language support at launch. Finding it is straightforward: open the Now Playing view while a supported track is playing, scroll down, and the About the Song card appears. Both artists and listeners can submit feedback directly through the card, which means the feature will keep improving as more people use it.
For a platform built on discovery, giving listeners the tools to go deeper on songs they already love is a natural and smart expansion. About the Song is rolling out now.
