Alabama Shakes are a band again. The group essentially went on hiatus in 2017, and leader Brittany Howard went on to a successful solo career. Late last year, though, Howard reunited with her old bandmates Heath Fogg and Zac Cockrell to play a surprise set at a Tuscaloosa benefit. (Former drummer Steve Johnson, whose child abuse charges were dismissed in 2021, did not take part.) Now, Alabama Shakes are back out on the road, and they’re playing new songs, with an album in the works. Today, they shared the first of those new songs, and it’s their first original in a full decade.

Technically, Alabama Shakes did release something in 2017. They dropped a version of Memphis Minnie’s “Killer Diller” on Music From The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and they won a Grammy for it. But that was a cover, not a new song. If we’re talking about original songs, then Alabama Shakes’ “Another Life” is their first piece of music since their sophomore LP, 2015’s Sound & Color. The band recorded “Another Life” at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios with longtime producer Shawn Everett. It’s got a sleek arrangement and a funky backbeat, all of which are there to highlight Brittany Howard’s howling, emotive vocal and her guitar solo. Here’s what she says about the track:

When I wrote “Another Life,” I was thinking about all the lives we carry. The ones we’re living right now, the ones that slipped away because of different choices, the what ifs, the what wasn’t meant to be, the goodbyes, and the chance encounters that feel divine. This song is about those threads and how they stretch across time and space, connecting every version of who we are. It’s about letting them come together, letting them harmonize, and realizing that goodbye isn’t really goodbye. It’s more like I’ll see you later. A collective story that never stops unfolding. I’m glad we opened this door into this reality of us making music together again.

Alabama Shakes have been playing “Another Life” live since their reunion tour kicked off, and it’s their first release for Island Records, their new label home. Give it a listen below.