Gearing up for another stellar record. As time passes, it’s become increasingly clear that Shane Smith & the Saints are the most underrated bands not only in the Red Dirt scene but in music in general. Backed by their patented blend of southern rock and stylings from Appalachian country, the Texas band scored early hits with the likes of “All I See Is You,” “Dance the Night Away” and “Lord Bury Me in Texas.” Over the past decade, it’s been easy to see that they’ve just gotten better with age. The sound has remained nearly the same, in the best way possible, of course. However, frontman Shane Smith’s voice has simply improved with every subsequent release. In particular, last year’s stellar record, Norther, portrayed this the best, showcasing a more mature, raspy vocal performance from the frontman. Feeling somewhere between late-career Johnny Cash and fellow alt. country star, Charles Wesley Godwin, he’s proven he has one of the most dynamic voices in the genre. Despite making some major appearances through 2025, including the likes of Two Step Inn, Koe Wetzel’s “Stronger Together” Texas benefit concert, Turnpike Troubadour’s Wild America Tour and their very own headlining tour, the Austin-based band were pretty quiet release-wise. In fact, the only song they dropped their anthem for Turtlebox, “Live Free (See Me Running),” last April. Thankfully, it looks like that’s all about to change in the coming months. This morning while announcing their upcoming return to Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas, with Sammy Kershaw on May 23rd, Smith himself would share a video from a studio in Memphis. Here, he’d drop the bomb that they have officially started preproduction for their fifth studio album. “We’re officially starting a new record today. We got dropped off in Memphis to do some preproduction, and we go off to Oxford and North Carolina the next day after that.” View this post on Instagram Of course, this untitled album will be the follow-up to their last brilliant release, Norther, which was our #2 record of the year of 2024 and contained some career-best tracks from the Saints such as “All the Way,” “Adeline,” “The Greys Between” and the severely underrated “1,000 Wild Horses.” Unlike some of their contemporaries such as Charley Crockett, Zach Bryan, Colby Acuff and more, Smith and Co. have a track record for taking their time between releases, highlighted by a five-year gap between Norther and their junior album Hail Mary in 2019 as well as a four-year gap between Hail Mary and Geronimo in 2015. With all that being said, it’s safe to say that the wait has always been worth it with the Saints. Even in a time where we’ve seen some of the best bands in the genre emerge seemingly on a yearly basis, they’ve proven time and time again that they have one of the most unique sounds and consistently terrific discographies in the game right now. Though its hard to speculate at the time given that they just started pre-production, I’d speculate a late 2026/early 2027 release date is most likely here. For now, however, we’ll just have to wait and see. Before you go, fire up their certified gold single, “All I See Is You.” Shane Smith & the Saints Tour Dates May 8 – Waco, Texas – Camp Fimfo Concert Series May 9 – Corpus Christi, Texas – Rodeo Corpus Christi May 15-16 – Cherokee, Texas – Cherokee Creek Music Festival May 23 – New Baunfels, Texas – Whitewater Amphitheater June 6 – McKinney, Texas – KHYI’s 27th Annual Texas Music Revolution June 7 – Lexington, Texas – Railbird Music Festival June 18 – Lewisburg, West Virginia – Wild Trails Festival June 20 – Greenwood Village, Colorado – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater June 26 – Pendleton, Oregon – Jackalope Jamboree June 27 – Kalispell, Montana – Majestic Valley ArenaThe post Shane Smith & The Saints Announce They’ve Started Working On A New Album first appeared on Whiskey Riff.