Umphrey’s McGee Announce ‘Blueprints,’ First Studio Album Since 2022
Umphrey’s McGee, photo by Brian Stollery
Umphrey’s McGee have announced Blueprints, the pioneering jam quintet’s first full-length album since 2022’s Asking for a Friend. With their long-awaited return to the studio, set to release on Sept. 12, the group looked to their time-honored traditions of shapeshifting live composition and community feedback, assembling a new collection of originals entirely from stitched-together onstage inspiration.
All six of the expansive entries on Blueprints were debuted at Umphrey’s McGee’s annual UMBowl events, where the group divides their stage time into quarters and embraces their wildest musical instincts. The tracks can be traced specifically to the recurring “Raw Stewage” section, which invites fans to vote on their favorite next-level jams that veered into wholly original creations–affectionately termed “Jimmy Stewarts”–to be cut down and recombined to form new songs.
Many of these fan-selected Frankenstein songs have become instant classics; “Den,” which debuted at UMBowl III in 2012, has been staged 82 times since. “Wide Open,” “Exit Signs,” “Unevolved” and “Out of Focus,” the album’s first four tracks, all trace back to UMBowl IX in 2022, while closing cut “Concessions” is the newest with origins at 2024’s UMBowl X. The songs’ convoluted path to the new album endured yet another layer of jam-ception in their recording at the Top Note Sessions in December 2024, set on the fourth floor of the Metro in their Chicago homebase. Before their nightly live recording sessions with an intimate hometown crowd, the band worked on the songs and recorded additional layers of vocals and instrumentation in daytime studio sessions in the same space.
For a band that has long thrived on meticulous and fearless hybridity, Blueprints is as close to a comprehensive statement of their guiding artistic purpose as they’ve come so far. The album is available to pre-order now, including an expansive vinyl package that explains their process with diagrams based on the pedals they used. Learn more and find Umphrey’s McGee’s full tour itinerary at umphreys.com.
Watch the album trailer below, and read on for the full tracklist.
Blueprints – Umphrey’s McGee
Wide Open
Exit Signs
Unevolved
Out Of Focus
Den
Concessions
