The Marcus King Band has officially announced their upcoming album ‘Darling Blue,' set for release on September 26 via American Records/Republic Records. The project marks the Grammy-nominated artist’s first recorded album with his full band since 2018’s ‘Carolina Confessions.'
Deeply inspired by King’s South Carolina roots, ‘Darling Blue' blends country, folk, psychedelic rock, and classic Motown R&B. The album dives into personal themes, continuing King’s exploration of addiction, depression, and self-discovery.
“It truly felt like home,” King said of the recording process. “Like my band and I were just working out songs to perform live but ended up creating a piece of recorded music for our fans to hear. But more than anything I’ve done before, this album felt like a real concerted effort to make music for myself, and for ourselves as a band—creating for the love of creating and being as honest as we possibly can. We put everything we had into making something that we love, and we have faith that the audience will feel that and love it too.”
In celebration of the announcement, the band has released two new songs from the album. ‘Here Today,' featuring Jamey Johnson and Kaitlin Butts, came together naturally, according to King. “The song came together in that organic way that happens when you’re just hanging out with friends instead of being on the clock,” he said.
Also out now is ‘Carry Me Home,' which King calls “the first song that poured out of me” during the writing process. The track pays tribute to the Blue Ridge Mountains and King’s connection to the region.
These new releases follow the early success of ‘Honky Tonk Hell,' which quickly became the fastest song in King’s career to reach one million streams. Another recent release, ‘Carolina Honey,' arrived shortly after King’s electrifying performance at Bonnaroo, where he played to a crowd of 40,000 fans.
Darling Blue is now available for pre-order and pre-save across all major platforms.
