American Aquarium Shares First Song from Next Album, ‘Chicamacomico’
Hilary Saunders
Posted On April 15, 2022
Discerning fans may have already seen frontman BJ Barham’s posts on social media earlier this week, but country rockers (and weepers) American Aquarium have officially announced their ninth studio album. The 10-track Chicamacomico is due out June 10 via Barham’s new label, Losing Side Records (with Thirty Tigers), and remarkably was fully fan-funded before the band even started recording.
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Arriving on the heels of the North Carolina-based band’s two records of ’90s country covers, Slappers, Bangers & Certified Twangers, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (which you can read more about in ND’s interview here), Chicamacomico sounds like a return to original form. Named after a 19th-century life-saving station in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the album honestly and brutally tackles love and loss, as Barham recently lost both his mother and grandmother.
Despite being a band for nearly two decades, American Aquarium has mostly been Barham’s project. Yet on Chicamacomico, he brings in collaborators and co-writers for the first time in his career. Fellow North Carolinian Brad Cook, known for his work with Hiss Golden Messenger, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Waxahatchee, produced the record, which also features song collaborations with Grammy-winner Lori McKenna, Grammy-nominee Hayes Carll, and more.
Check out the just-released video for Chicamacomico‘s lead single and closing track, “All I Needed,” below:
American Aquarium is touring all summer, starting with their first-ever headlining show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
The band was No Depression‘s Spotlight artist in May 2020, as they released their previous album, Lamentations. Read our interview with Barham, as well as his essay on getting through the early months of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
