For over a decade, NMB has stood as one of progressive rock’s most enduring and unified collectives. With their latest studio album L.I.F.T., set for release on the 27th February 2026, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer, and Randy George return with a work that embodies vision, passion, and inspiration. Written and recorded during a period of major transition, L.I.F.T. captures the band’s creative chemistry at its most instinctive and inspired.
Today, the band has revealed the third single from the album, titled “Reaching”, and you can listen now, below.
Neal comments: “’’Reaching’ became a really energetic track because of the way NMB approached it. My original sketch changed a lot when the band began to play it, and we all put our vocals on it. I sketched out a lot of the original lyrics in the hotel room that morning, and brought them in, and we banged them out pretty quickly, as I recall. We wanted to start it off with just vocals, as we always enjoyed that with NMB right from our first outing as a band on The Grand Experiment album. If you like this band, you’re gonna love this track!”
Conceptually, L.I.F.T. stands toe to toe with NMB’s greatest works, like their much-acclaimed concept album Similitude Of A Dream, combining emotional depth with the band’s trademark progressive rock grandeur.
“In short, L.I.F.T. is a prog concept album that follows the journey of someone seeking to belong to something greater than themselves,” Morse explains. “It starts with feeling connected to the world and life, then there is a break in belonging, after which comes the turmoil and desperate cry, leading to a return to that place of profound connection.”
The album title came late, though its meaning remains intentionally vague. “We thought it could stand for different things,” says Randy. “It’s kind of whatever the listener wants it to be.”
True to the band’s collaborative spirit, L.I.F.T. began with the usual whiteboard full of ideas, with columns under each member’s name filled with riffs and snippets. However, few of them made it onto the final album. “We hardly used any of the ideas on the board,” says George. “Most of it was written right there in the room, more so than in the past.” While Bill Hubauer contributed a few early sketches, and Morse improvised piano pieces that evolved into key themes, much of the music took shape spontaneously.
With artwork created by longtime collaborator Thomas Ewerhard, the L.I.F.T. will be available as a Limited 2CD Digipak (incl. instrumental versions), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Download. Pre-order it now here.
