Every Friday, the team at Atwood Magazine shares their weekly listening picks – be it a song, an album, an artist – highlighting what has resonated with them recently.
This week's compilation includes music from Alabama Shakes, Medium Build, Ethel Cain, Madelline, Takeda, Bea Elmy Martin, Lindsey Rose Black, My Chérie, Somewhere in Between, Paige O, Common People, American Authors, Jordan Anthony, Cristina Hart, Nia Wyn, and Lizzie Thomas!
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:: “Another Life” – Alabama Shakes ::
Mitch Mosk, Beacon, New York
Among all the vinyls in my collection, few have been played as often, as worn, or as loved as Alabama Shakes’ 2015 work, Sound and Color. The genre-defying, soul-infused rock group, led by the unique Brittany Howard, stood out as a remarkable force in the early 2010s – and although the members have pursued individual projects, the magic of “Alabama Shakes” has truly been missed over the past decade.
Here we are
In these extraordinary conditions
How could I ask you to settle down?
What if something even better awaits us next time?
Ooh, I ache to share with you
That I’ve discovered a way to say goodbye
To lessen the hurt, ooh
When you enter my thoughts
Can we try again?
(Can we try in another life?)
One more time
(Can we try in another life?)
I promise I won’t make you cry again
(Can we try?)
Can we try in another life?
That’s where we stand now. “Another Life” symbolizes a new beginning for the iconic trio of Brittany Howard, Heath Fogg, and Zac Cockrell, as they come back together, reigniting their powerful chemistry with a song filled with intensity and emotion. Recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios with longtime collaborator Shawn Everett, “Another Life” feels like a message from the universe – its smoky keys and bluesy guitar roll in like looming clouds before Howard's voice breaks through. “Can we try again? One more time again? Can we try in another life?” the dynamic frontwoman belts out with soul-stirring power, infusing pure passion and deep emotion into a moving, cinematic climax.
Howard describes the track as a reflection on the lives we live: “When we wrote ‘Another Life,’ I was contemplating all the lives we carry,” she expresses to Atwood Magazine. “The ones we’re experiencing now, the ones that slipped away due to different choices, the what-ifs, the missed chances, the goodbyes, and the serendipitous encounters. This song refers to those connections and how they extend across time and space, linking every facet of who we are. It’s about allowing these aspects to converge, harmonize, and realizing that goodbye isn't truly farewell. It's more like 'I’ll see you later.' A collective narrative that continuously unfolds. I’m thrilled we opened this door to create music together again.”
Do I mind?
Living with uncertainty
Never knowing what might happen
Never certain if we’d endure
Perhaps we can uncover some answers
Maybe next time
Who am I trying to fool?
I can’t pretend you didn’t just pop into my mind
When I hurt you, I hurt myself
And the feelings just won’t mend
I can’t reverse it, ooh
Darling, goodbye
Can we try again?
(Can we try in another life?)
Once more
(Can we try in another life?)
I won’t bring tears again
(Can we try?)
Can we try in another life?
Can we try in another life?
“Another Life” serves as a powerful homecoming – cinematic, emotionally stirring, and relentless in its sorrow. Every word Howard sings, every lament she expresses is drenched in longing and introspection, each instrumental moment filled with raw, unrestrained feeling. A decade after Sound and Color, Alabama Shakes are blazing their own path once more, exuding the same fearlessness, intensity, and freedom as they did when they revolutionized modern rock.
“Another Life” not only rekindles that passion – it reminds us why it was missed in the first place. With a third studio album on the horizon, music once again smolders with gritty rock and bluesy charisma.
Here we are
In these extraordinary conditions
How could I assure you forever?
What if there’s something better
On the other side?
Ooh, I’m eager to share
We’ve already bid farewell
When I hurt you, I hurt myself
And the feelings just won’t mend
I can’t go back, ooh
Sweetheart, goodbye
Can we try again?
(Can we try in another life?)
Try again
(Can we try in
Atwood's team shares their current music picks: This week's selection features Alabama Shakes, Medium Build, Ethel Cain, Madelline, Takeda, Bea Elmy Martin, Lindsey Rose Black, My Chérie, Somewhere in Between, Paige O, Common People, American Authors, Jordan Anthony, Cristina Hart, Nia Wyn, and Lizzie Thomas!
