According to American Aquarium’s BJ Barham, The Fear of Standing Still is a record about growing up and growing older. “I am not the wild partying 21 year old rock n roll front man that I used to be. I'm a husband. I'm a father. I've been sober for a decade now. It's a record that proves you don't have to always be going 100mph to find success in this business. It's a record that says "it's ok to take a minute to reflect on how far you've come, not worry about how much further you have to go". For the longest time I thought that if I took my foot off the gas for even a second, I would lose all the ground that I had gained. Fatherhood changed that. I've found a really beautiful balance between rock n roll and family and I wanted a record that showcased that freedom.

In the studio, I've always strived to find the perfect balance between showcasing the songwriting and the fact that I have a really great rock n roll band. This record is the closest we've ever come to that intersection. These songs are big, anthemic rock songs but also stand on their own two feet when they are played on an acoustic guitar. We have always taken a lot of pride in that fact. Thematically, I cover a lot of ground on this record: nostalgia, death, regional identity, marriage, fatherhood, redemption, mental health. My records have always been a snapshot of the person I was when I wrote it and this record really finds the band and my songwriting both really hitting a stride. I feel extremely confident that this batch of songs will be in the set for years to come.”

Recorded live at the legendary Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, The Fear of Standing Still marks American Aquarium’s second outing with producer Shooter Jennings—a three-time Grammy winner who also helmed production on 2020’s critically lauded Lamentations, as well as albums from the likes of Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. In a departure from the stripped-down subtlety of 2022’s Chicamacomico (a largely acoustic rumination on grief), the band’s tenth studio LP piles on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-charging rhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics. Mixed by four-time Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker (Queens of the Stone Age, Emmylou Harris), The Fear of Standing Still is available to order here on limited edition ‘Blue Jean’ colored vinyl LP and CD.

Tracklist

1. Crier

2. Messy As A Magnolia

3. Cherokee Purples

4. The Getting Home

5. Southern Roots (feat. Katie Pruitt)

6. The Curse of Growing Old

7. The Fear of Standing Still

8. Piece by Piece

9. Babies Having Babies

10. Head Down, Feet Moving

Preorders for local, store pickup are available to pickup at Grimey’s as of July 26th.

Preorders for mail order will ship out from Grimey’s on or around Friday, July 26th.

*Preorders for store pickup will be held for three months after release date. Please pick up your Fear of Standing Still preorder no later than October 26th.