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Thomas dolbaum

Thomas Dollbaum announces MJ Lenderman-featuring album Birds of Paradise

10 March 2026, 10:00 | Written by Best Fit

Tampa-born, New Orleans-based songwriter Thomas Dollbaum will release his second album Birds of Paradise in May – with a band that features MJ Lenderman.

The Dear Life Records-signed Dollbaum made the album with a band comprising Nick Corson, Josh Halper alongside the ubiquitous Lenderman, with recording taking place with producer Clay Jones over four days at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi.

Set for a 22 May release, Birds of Paradise follows Dollbuam's 2022 debut Wellswood and was written over three months, drawing on his experiences of returning to Tampa after eight years away and finding a place that no longer matched his memory of it.

First single "Dozen Roses" – the second track on the album – is, says Dollbaum, "an introduction of sorts to the themes of the record; 'magical thinking' is a way to process the world and the memories I have. 'Dozen Roses' is more about the passing of time, and acknowledgement of never feeling like there is enough of it." The song arrives with a video by Mississippi-based collective ALLUVIAL, shot at a sandbar along the Mississippi River.

Dollbaum is currently on the road supporting Esther Rose, with dates running through this month; further solo shows are scheduled for April, including appearances with Fust and Merce Lemon, culminating in a Brooklyn show at Sleepwalk on 20 April.

Birds of Paradise artwork

Thomasdollbaum birdsofparadise 1500

Birds of Paradise tracklist

"Visitation"
"Dozen Roses"
"Rabbits"
"Coyote"
"Waterbird"
"Big Boi"
"Pulverize"
"King's Landing"
"Scrub Jay"
"Blue Meets Blue"

Birds of Paradise is released on 22 May via Dear Life Records

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