Back in 2023 our pal Thomas Dollbaum was down in Water Valley, Mississippi, making a record at Dial Back Sound. The sessions–engineered and co-produced by EoAM honcho Clay Jones–spawned Birds of Paradise, the excellent new album dropping in late May on Dear Life Records. The band on Birds of Paradise is in top form with Nick Corson, Josh Halper, and MJ Lenderman on drums.

Thomas sent us a test pressing of the vinyl release a few months back. It’s been in constant rotation on the shop turntable. Folks are always asking, “WHO IS THIS?! WHEN CAN I BUY IT?!?”

We’re proud to select Birds of Paradise for our Record of the Month Club this June. Subscribers will be getting a copy of the record pressed on limited “Roseate Spoonbill pink vinyl,” which is already in limited supply. We’ll start shipping these out in late June. Sign up now to secure your copy!

 

ALSO! Thomas and his touring band will be heading to Oxford for a record release party on Friday, June 12th. We were going to have the show in the shop in Oxford, but thought it’d be better to do it outside. The show will be at the pocket park on the Square in between City Hall and Square Books Jr. (next to the Faulkner statue) The show is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Copies of Birds of Paradise will be for sale. Show starts at 6 p.m. Big thanks to Visit Oxford for helping us with this event. 

 

More on the record: 

“The realest-deal storyteller in indie-rock today is the Tampa-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Thomas Dollbaum, and Birds of Paradise is his most powerful and dynamic work yet. Following up his critically acclaimed Wellswood (Big Legal Mess, 2022) and Drive All Night EP (Dear Life Records, 2025), Birds of Paradise is a goodbye letter to lost loved ones and former selves. These songs find Dollbaum searching for acceptance in the transient in-between places: Florida’s pine flatwoods, backroads leading to I-95, where birds fly across the water. And even though the ghosts of his alt-county predecessors Townes and Molina are definitely present, on Birds of Paradise, Dollbaum emerges from their shadows–waving to the past, sounding all the more like himself.” – Ashleigh Bryant Phillips

releases May 22, 2026

Thomas Dollbaum: guitar, vocals
Nick Corson: bass, drums on “Dozen Roses,” guitar, piano on “Waterbirds”
Josh Halper: guitar, bass on “Dozen Roses,” percussion
Jake Lenderman: drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitar on “Dozen Roses”

Songs written by Thomas Dollbaum
Recorded the week of November 27, 2023 at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS
Engineered and mixed by Clay Jones
Produced by Clay Jones and Thomas Dollbaum
Mastered by Carl Saff
Artwork by Cora Nimtz
Photos by Graham Hamaker and Clay Jones
Layout by Daniel Murphy