THE NEAL MORSE BAND – L.I.F.T. (2026) *HQ*

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For over a decade, THE NEAL MORSE BAND (NMB) has stood as one of progressive rock’s most enduring and unified collectives. With their latest studio album ”L.I.F.T.”, set for release on 27 February 2026, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer, and Randy George return with a work that embodies vision, passion, and inspiration. Written and recorded during a period of major transition, L.I.F.T. captures the band’s creative chemistry at its most instinctive and inspired. Conceptually, L.I.F.T. stands toe-to-toe with NMB’s greatest works, combining emotional depth with the band’s trademark progressive rock grandeur.

“In short, L.I.F.T. is a prog concept album that follows the journey of someone seeking to belong to something greater than themselves,” Morse explains. The album title came late, though its meaning remains intentionally vague. “We thought it could stand for different things,” says Randy. “It’s kind of whatever the listener wants it to be.”
True to the band’s collaborative spirit, L.I.F.T. began with the usual whiteboard full of ideas, with columns under each member’s name filled with riffs and snippets. However, few of them made it onto the final album. “We hardly used any of the ideas on the board,” says George. “Most of it was written right there in the room, more so than in the past.”
For the first time, NMB worked entirely outside their familiar recording environment, at Eric Gillette’s studio in Tulsa, adding a layer of uncertainty to the process. “It was strange not being in the usual studio,” George admits. “But hearing the final mixes, it all came together beautifully.”

Mixing once again fell to longtime collaborator Rich Mouser, who has been refining NMB’s complex sound for years. As George explains, the band sends him the tracks and lets him work independently: “We just let him do his thing.”
Despite the enormous amount of detail in the arrangements, Mouser once again delivered a mix where “everything lives.” The drums, in particular, stand out. Mouser will experiment by removing or combining elements “to see what it sounds like if this isn’t there.”
The result is another brilliant showcase of the band’s trademark sound.

L.I.F.T. is everything the NMB fan could hope for and will surely live on in the great canon of the band’s outstanding career as one of their best.
Highly Recommended

01 – Beginning
02 – Fully Alive
03 – I Still Belong
04 – Gravity’s Grip
05 – Hurt People
06 – The Great Withdrawal
07 – Contemplation
08 – Shame About My Shame
09 – Reaching
10 – Carry You Again
11 – Shattered Barricade
12 – Fully Alive, Pt. 2
13 – Love All Along
14 – Fully Alive (Single Version)

Neal Morse
Mike Portnoy
Eric Gillette
Bill Hubauer
Randy George

Pre order:
nealmorse.com/product/nmb-l-i-f-t/