New Music: Foo Fighters, Ben Folds, Avenged Sevenfold, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Ben Harper, and The Alarm

The latest albums coming out on June 2

From the LifeMinute.TV Team

June 3, 2023

Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Warner Records)
Avant-garde metal band Avenged Sevenfold has finally returned with Life Is But A Dream, their eighth studio album, produced by Joe Barresi on Warner Records. The bulk of the record was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and greatly attributed to the seven years since their previous release. This time around, the band chose to work with a 78-piece orchestra on several tracks and lyrically took inspiration from the work of French philosopher Albert Camus. The record is available in digital and physical formats, and the vinyl release comes in 11 different color variations exclusive to specific retailers.

Ben Folds - What Matters Most (New West Records)
What Matters Most is Ben Folds' fifth solo recording and his first since his 2015 effort So There. It is available as a standard LP and CD and as a Deluxe CD that includes three bonus tracks and a Limited Edition Vinyl version with a flexi disc that includes a cover song of The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You." Folds has been on tour since March of this year and will wrap up this December in Essen, Germany.

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are (Roswell Records/RCA Records)
The Foo Fighters are back with their first release since the unexpected death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. But Here We Are is the band's 11th studio album and their third collaboration with producer Greg Kurstin. Frontman Dave Grohl handled the drumming on the record, receiving his first drumming credits since 2005 on a Foo Fighters album. Drummer Josh Freese, whose impressive resume includes stints in bands such as Devo, The Vandals, Guns N' Roses, and Nine Inch Nails, to name a few, has been announced as the band's touring drummer. As an added treat, Grohl's 17-year-old daughter Violet appears on this record, singing a duet with her dad on the song "Show Me How."

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies [Deluxe] (Sour Mash Records)
The extremely volatile Gallagher brothers pulled the plug on their partnership and band Oasis in 2009, opening the door for Noel to pursue other avenues. His current band, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, has since released four records, including their latest on Gallagher's label Sour Mash Records. This marks the 1st record to be done almost entirely in his own Lone Star Studios in London. Some portions were also done at Abbey Road Studios. Gallagher decries this effort as a "back to roots" album. Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr appears on three songs, including the lead single "Pretty Boy." The Deluxe version includes a whopping 14 additional tracks of Gallagher originals except for a cover of John Lennon's "Mind Games" and Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."

Ben Harper - Wide Open Light (Chrysalis Records)
The prolific American singer-songwriter just dropped his 17th album called Wide Open Light. It is an album of very sparse arrangements. The predominantly acoustic affair is made up of what Harper calls "a family of songs where each track is a close relative to the next." The first single to be released is titled "Yard Sale," featuring singer Jack Johnson. Harper will be on tour supporting this record throughout the summer and fall, covering the US and Europe. You can visit benharper.com for a complete list of dates.

The Alarm - Forwards (The Twenty First Century Recording Company (InGrooves/Universal))
In 2022, The Alarm celebrated their 40th Anniversary with the release of the History Repeating Anthology and World Tour, which was cut short when lead singer Mike Peters was stricken by pneumonia and a life-threatening leukemia relapse. Peters continued to write new music throughout, and once strong enough, led The Alarm back into the studio to record their brand-new album Forwards which features ten new tracks.