Styx Confirms New ‘Circling From Above’ Concept Album

Styx's first LP since 2021's Crash of the Crown has been confirmed. Their avian-themed Circling From Above concept album is set for release on July 18 on streaming sites.

Compact disc and vinyl copies are available to purchase now on StyxWorld.com. See a complete track listing and listen to the advance single, "Build and Destroy," below.

Tommy Shaw, an avid birder, took a lead creative role. He said many of the songs took on a personal dimension. "You're writing about your experiences in your life and things that you love and enjoy, or things that were hard to go through and that sort of thing," he told UCR. "So you're just really just writing a book in little sections like that."

READ MORE: The Best Tommy Shaw Styx Songs

Shaw had early worries that Styx's label representative might not be on board. "But he says, 'Oh, we're birders!'" Shaw later admitted. "It was kind of risky to say this thing's gonna be about a bird. But there was so much enthusiasm and it's like, you know, sometimes in life things just go your way – and this went our way."

Sessions for Circling From Above were just as organic as the writing process, Shaw said. All of the songs on the 41-minute, 13-song album were written by some combination of Shaw, producer Will Evankovich and singer/keyboardist Lawrence Gowan.

"I guess we just stumbled upon a way of doing it," Shaw told UCR. "Will and I, we've been writing songs together for you know for 10, 15 years. When we get one that we like – Will's a lot more organized than I am, but he'll put it on a hard drive. So we had amassed a whole bunch of songs."

Styx will support Circling From Above on a lengthy run of summer dates with Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon and former Eagles guitarist Don Felder. Styx is rounded out by founding guitarist/vocalist James "JY" Young and bassist Chuck Panozzo, along with longtime drummer Todd Sucherman and bassist Terry Gowan.

A concept video for "Build and Destroy" is due later today. "That little melody, I kept singing 'Build and Destroy,'" Lawrence Gowan said in an official statement. "Even though we don't sing over that part, I kept thinking that would be a good title. It's thematic. The melody feels like a little Star Trek or Twilight Zone thing — just a small tag that reinforces the title."

This is Styx's third new album in just eight years. Evankovich also produced their two most recent LPs before becoming an official member in 2022.

Styx, Circling From Above' Track Listing
1. "Circling From Above"
2. "Build and Destroy"
3. "Michigan"
4. "King of Love"
5. "It's Clear"
6. "Forgive"
7. "Everyone Raise a Glass"
8. "Blue Eyed Raven"
9. "She Knows"
10. "Ease Your Mind"
11. "The Things That You Said"
12. "We Lost the Wheel Again"
13. "Only You Can Decide"