The Josh Abbott Band returns this week (Aug. 18) with their fifth studio release, Until My Voice Goes Out And if you've heard any of it yet you know the new project sees the guys take in a horn and string section into the fold.

Until My Voice Goes Out embraces a different direction and sound, one that many JAB fans may not be expecting. But how could it not?

It's been a tumultuous, both good and bad, year for Abbott who is now engaged to girlfriend Taylor Parnell, and of course they welcomed daughter Emery in May. Earlier this year Abbott’s father suffered a fatal stroke. The singer tells ew.com “I literally encountered life and death in this process (making the album),” he says. “And whatever collision of forces that was, it made for a very interesting narrative about a time in my life that I’m still struggling with.”

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