I am excited to announce that there is a new RANCH\HOUSE album coming out on September 12, 2025. This is the 4th full-length R\H album in 10 years. This is a very special collection of music because it is the first album where Stephen Brady Dietert (me), the songwriter, embraces “Love” as a concept. On the 1st track of the 1st record recorded in 2015, In the song “Leisure Pants,” the lyrics say, “Can I rise above, can I learn to love, The feast is about to begin.” Then, on that same record on the track “Love Like This,” the lyrics say, “Still searching…”
On the latest record, the artist concludes by saying, “I finally believe, It is happening for me, for so long I didn’t know which road I should go…to find Love.” It seems, in retrospect that over the course of these 4 albums and these 10 years, the songwriter has been on a quest to find Love. This is not an uncommon quest , many people can relate to the is journey. More accurately, The author believed that Love had been lost, and it was only through a personal journey of self discovery that Love could be found. In the new track, Love Kills, the lyrics say, “Love Kills and you can’t live without it, It kills the ego and flushes out the vain, Love heals when you turn it around, come on a hold me and bury me in Love.” These lyrics indicate that perhaps there was an ego death or false premise that had to be shed before Love could be accepted. The new record plays with ideas about willfully designing the world to learning to live within it with grace.
This new record brings some closure to an ongoing story that RANCH\HOUSE has embodied, which is the search for love. This very well could be the conclusion of the the RANCH\HOUSE project. It feels like it could be a work worth ending on, however, it would be dramatic to claim that there will never be another RANCH\HOUSE album, afterall…stories never end.
I’d like to note here that I worked with my favorite producer, David Beck, who has been with RANCH\HOUSE since the 2014 recording session of “What Maps Don’t Show.” He continues to grow as a musician and producer. I am grateful that he can still find the time to work with me to produce these works. Also, Dees Stribling is recorded on drums on 6 of the 12 new songs. Dees, also, has had a big part in all 4 RANCH\HOUSE albums. Dees and I are about the same age, and we love a lot of the same 90’s music. So we always have a great time when we get together.
In previous records, it has been a major point to bring in a lot of collaborators on RANCH\HOUSE albums. This album was much different in that regard. We only had 2 collaborators on the entire record. Morgan Penix graciously perfomed a beautiful violin piece on the new track “Something In the Way,” and my fiance Erica Wohlleben, sang with me , gentle backing vocal, on the final song, “Believe In Love.” With everyone becoming more busy, typically with evolving family demands, It is just much more difficult to schedule studio time for all the people that I would love to collaborate with. These albums are a labor of love, and It is amzing we can still organize the time, effort, and funding to complete these works. I am very grateful that this new record came to fruition, and I love that It is full of Love.