Flowers, the new album from the seminal trio Soulive, is one of the best records of 2026. Yes, snow still may be on the ground and hundreds of albums are yet to be released, but what Soulive has created is nothing short of a masterpiece of cinematic, soulful, evocative instrumental jazz, funk, and soul.
The album, recorded at Flóki Studios (a legendary name) on Iceland’s remote Tröllaskagi Peninsula, is the first full length studio of original music that the triumvirate of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans (organ/keys) have delivered since 2009’s Up Here.
The band has dropped music since then including the full length Beatles tribute, their four-track collab with Karl Denson (2012’s Spark!) and their Cinematics duology (2018, 2024). However, the lack of a full length album has left fans, like this writer, absolutely ravenous for a cohesive full length. These samplings showed what each man’s time away from the band working as solo artists (Krasno), producers (Alan Evans) and touring abroad (Neal Evans with Jack White) was bringing to the table.
The ravenous appetite for a Soulive full-length is more than satiated with Flowers. If you’re a fan of the band, you will feel like you’ve devoured a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner — minus the gross food coma. It’s teeming with everything that makes this trio great while effortlessly blending experience the individual members have amassed over 16 years. It’s a fresh album, but also one that feels wholly lived-in and expressly Soulive.
Flowers highlights each individual member’s strengths, and fuse them into a cohesive audio experience. Eric Krasno’s intimate and intricate jazz stylings and his blazing blues guitar heroics are on full display throughout the album. Alan Evans brings driving thunder, and quiet calm on the drums. Neal Evans underscores so many tracks with his keys, and then also drives songs with almost DJ-like aplomb throughout. Each member is able to be the hero of a song, while his bandmates build this impenetrable supportive backbone.
Yet, there’s one track that steps a bit outside of the band’s studio box and shines above the rest. “Flowers at Your Feet” featuring the vocals of Grammy-nominated soul singer Van Hunt is a wild one. The band is no stranger to having vocalists whether it was Toussaint Yeshua as their frontman in 2006-2007, or Nigel Hall (Lettuce) doing guest vocals on live shows or Bowlives. However, on this track, Hunt voices a psychedelic track that feels like it was unearthed from a ’70s soul album. It’s such a radically different tune from the rest of the album, yet somehow absolutely works. It’s one of the many must-listen to tracks on this must-listen to album.
Flowers is an incredible, no-skip record that embodies the best of Soulive’s jazz, soul, blues and funk inspirations and puts them into a collection of infectious (mostly) instrumental anthems that should be in your album rotation throughout 2026.
