Uncle Lucius

Two decades into their career, Uncle Lucius aren't interested in nostalgia. The Austin-based band — whose platinum-selling singles and sold-out shows have stretched from Texas to Australia — reunited after a five-year hiatus when "Keep the Wolves Away" became a hit on Yellowstone. Rather than take a victory lap, they treated the return as a reset: expanding their lineup and their sound, then rebuilding their chemistry the old-school way, onstage, across thousands of miles in America, Europe, and beyond.

That road-tested chemistry fuels their newest release, Open Eyes, Broken Heart. Recorded over 10 days in a rented house overlooking the Blanco River in Wimberley, Texas, the band set up in a circle and tracked mostly live, with engineer/mixer Chris Bell capturing the sessions.

Many of these songs waited more than a decade for frontman Kevin Galloway to be ready to share them. "This album is the culmination of all the years we've spent on the road," he says. "All the battles, all the losses, all the wins. This record couldn't have happened at any other time." The result is a record about finding grace inside the chaos of modern life — not a concept album, but a journey. As Galloway puts it: "There's always a silver lining, if you ask me. There's always a way to move forward."