Sublime Is Making Their First New Album in Nearly 30 Years With Travis Barker

Sublime is working on their first album since 1996, and Travis Barker will help produce it. 

The Blink-182 drummer is teaming up with John Feldmann, known for his work with Good Charlotte and 5 Seconds of Summer, to produce Sublime’s newest project. They hope to release the first single from the album as soon as this summer. 

“I grew up on Sublime,” Barker expressed in a statement, noting that the band’s album 40 Oz. to Freedom “changed the way I listened to music.” Feldmann added that working with Sublime “has been a highlight of my life.”

The two producers are collaborating with original members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, however, joining them is Jakob Nowell, son of late band member Bradley Nowell. Jakob stepped into his father’s role in 2023, performing with the band for the first time at a benefit concert for H.R., the lead of a punk band called Bad Brains. Last year, he performed with the band at Coachella and then went on to play several festivals with them. 

Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose in May 1996. His death came two months before the release of Sublime’s first major-label album. The self-titled album would go on to become a quintuple-platinum hit, creating alt-rock staples such as “What I Got,” “Santeria,” and “Wrong Way.”

At the time of his father’s death, Jakob was only 11 months old. Growing up, he was reluctant to play with his father’s former bandmates because of his own musical interests but also his complicated relationship with his father’s memory. However, now as a 28-year-old, having returned from a “spiritual pilgrimage,” he is ready to honor his father’s legacy. 

The loving son told the Los Angeles Times in 2024, “I call Bud and Eric my uncles, and I’m happy they’ve accepted me into their band. I’ll never look at it as my band. Sublime is my dad’s band, and I’m helping out, that’s all.”

Sublime, in collaboration with Travis Barker, John Feldmann, and Jakob Nowell, are coming back from their 30-year break from music. While the tracks will be new, their harmony will be nostalgic of the ’90s, honoring the benevolent life they lost since then.