Chicago singer-songwriter Al Rose’s eighth album, Again the Beginner, is an urgent set of 13 good and true songs which features perhaps the loveliest melodies, catchiest hooks, and nerviest set of lyrics he’s yet composed. It’s a heartening and bracing experience; one man’s attempt to come to terms with modern times and that broken feeling everybody’s got in the pit of their stomach. The stakes couldn’t be higher: this is your life; our time is running short, and every personal crisis seems tied to an accumulating sense of public dread. After all, a lot has happened since Rose dropped his last album, 2016’s Spin Spin Dizzy: years of authoritarian encroachment, COVID-19, and unstinting attacks on democracy at home and abroad.

Al Rose is well-regarded in his hometown of Chicago not only for his original music but for his interpretations of Grateful Dead and Dylan tunes at Dead-friendly venues Martyrs', Montrose Saloon, and SPACE. The music videos that he has released to promote Again the Beginner have been premiered or featured via The Deli Magazine, Static Multimedia, Here Comes the Flood (Netherlands), and Americana UK. Tracks from Again the Beginner have received airplay via WFMT's The Midnight Special, WGN, CHIRP, Lumpen Radio, WLUW, WZRD, WNUR, The Music Authority, and Radio Free Charleston.

"With his eighth album Again the Beginner, Chicago singer and songwriter Al Rose offers evidence of what the world at large has been missing. Rose is a talented songsmith, and while his music is occasionally reminiscent of other artists — opening track “Don’t Know Why” sounds like the Who in their heyday — each of these songs pop with an urgency and immediacy that demands instant attention." -Lee Zimmerman, Goldmine Magazine