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Brittany Howard Announces 1st Solo Album, Shares 'History Repeats'

Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard will release her first-ever solo album later this summer. The album, Jaime, is named after her sister, who died of cancer when they were both teenagers. "The title is in memoriam," says Howard in a press release announcing the record. "And she definitely did shape me as a human being. But the record is not about her. It's about me. I'm pretty candid about myself and who I am and what I believe. Which is why I needed to do it on my own."

Jaime's first single is a swirling, punch-drunk and funk rumination on the ways repeated mistakes can hold us back. "I just don't want to be back in this place again," she sings. "I mean, I done cried a little / Tried a little / Failed a little."

Howard says this is the most honest and personal she's been in her music but felt it was time to do something on her own, outside of Alabama Shakes. "I turned 30 and I was like, 'What do I want the rest of my life to look like?' Do I want to play the same songs until I'm 50 and then retire, or do I do something that's scarier for me? Do I want people to understand me and know me, do I want to tell them my story? I'm very private, but my favorite work is when people are being honest and really doing themselves."


Jaime is due out Sep. 20 on ATO Records. Album art work and full track list below:

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1. History Repeats
2. He Loves Me
3. Georgia
4. Stay High
5. Tomorrow
6. Short and Sweet
7. 13th Century Metal
8. Baby
9. Goat Head
10. Presence
11. Run To Me

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.