Out Now: Tift Merritt Returns With Sugar, Her First Album In Nearly A Decade
Grammy-Nominated Singer-Songwriter's Long-Awaited New Collection Finds Beauty, Resilience And Connection In Everyday Life
Merritt To Play Mountain Stage, Evanston Folk Festival, Deer Valley Folk Festival And More This Fall; Additional Tour Dates To Be Announced
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June 26, 2026: Today, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Tift Merritt releasesSugar, her first album in nearly a decade and a triumphant return from one of Americana’s most beloved and enduring voices. Out now via One Riot Records, the 12-song collection was written across eight years of personal and creative transformation, capturing Merritt at her most candid, joyful and emotionally expansive.
Described by Variety as “tender and tough-minded…bracingly real and ebullient,”Sugar is a gorgeously unguarded collection rooted in Merritt’s radiant blend of country-soul. Reflecting on love, loneliness, resilience and connection with newfound clarity, the album embraces life’s complexities while remaining grounded in hope. Whether embracing the open-hearted optimism of lead single “Finest Feelings,” celebrating women’s strength and solidarity on “Everyday Singing,” or marveling at love’s unexpected power on today’s focus track “Look What Love Just Did,” Merritt finds moments of beauty, humor and hope in everyday life.
“Before I made this record I was looking at the world and thinking, ‘I don’t know what to do except try to put some love out there.’ And for me, singing is the most honest, immediate way to offer love,” says Merritt. “My work has always been about trying to understand what it means to be human at that point in time; I believe it’s my responsibility as an artist to have a creative response to the current moment. But that response has to make room for the personal and the joyful too—we can’t face everything with doom and gloom alone.”
Following the release of 2017’s Stitch of the World, Merritt devoted herself to family, teaching, advocacy and community-building. She serves as Practitioner-in-Residence at Duke University, became involved in the reimagining of Raleigh’s historic Gables boutique hotel, and worked with the Artist Rights Alliance, all experiences that deepened the perspective and sense of purpose at the heart of Sugar. That time away was lived fully and intentionally, ultimately laying the foundation for the songs that make up the album.
Recorded at Nashville’s Gold Pacific Studios and tracked live, Sugar captures a deliberate spontaneity that underscores the emotional immediacy of Merritt’s performances. Produced by Lawrence Rothman, she’s joined by a wide-ranging group of collaborators, including guitarist Audley Freed (Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow), multi-instrumentalist Robert Ellis (PJ Harvey, Faye Webster), Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick, Midlake’s McKenzie Smith, and Memphis-based arranger Art Edmaiston.
Listen to Sugar, out now via One Riot Records, HERE.
“Producing Sugar felt like stepping into a rare, hard-earned moment of creative focus,” says Rothman. “There was patience in the room, but also a quiet urgency—like everyone knew this music had been living with her for years. Many of the takes were first takes, Tift on the floor cutting with the band. It felt less like making an album and more like documenting an artist re-entering her own story.”
“Sugar is about the surprising sweetness of being unequipped for showing up every day but trying anyway,” Merritt says. “It relishes pleasure, finds love and loses it, and laughs about how your ideas about your life get shaken out of your hands for the better. It’s a love song to calling it like you see it—it seeks kindness.”
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Radiating vitality, especially in its most vulnerable moments, Sugar reflects Merritt’s unwavering commitment to genuine connection. “When people hear this album, I hope they feel like I shared with them as generously as I could,” she says. “These days, when it feels harder and harder to connect with something real, I’m doubling down on that realness.”
Hailed by The New Yorker as “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul,”Merritt first earned national acclaim with her 2004 breakthrough Tambourine, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album. Across a career spanning more than two decades, her songwriting has drawn comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris, and she has collaborated with artists including Jason Isbell and Iron & Wine.
Beyond music, Merritt is also involved in the reimagining of Raleigh’s historic Gables property, an 18-room hotel, bar and gathering space set to open this September. For more information, visit https://www.thegablesraleigh.com/ and read the most recent press release HERE.
Merritt will perform at Mountain Stage, Evanston Folk Festival and Deer Valley Folk Festival this fall, with additional tour dates to be announced. She will also play a special album launch show at London’s The Lower Third on June 28, along with a Q&A and signing. Order Sugar HERE and visit https://www.tiftmerritt.com/ for more information and upcoming tour dates.
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Press Contacts:
Allison Elbl (Shore Fire) - aelbl@shorefire.com
Taylor Perry (Shore Fire) - tperry@shorefire.com