Released by Elvis’ original Memphis label and produced with the help of a rising Nashville power couple, Ruthie Foster’s Just Say Yes draws on tradition, using lessons from the past to look toward the future. Out Aug. 28, the singer-songwriter’s 12th LP, and second since leaving longtime label Blue Corn, follows up on her 2024 Grammy-winning Sun Records debut Mileage with a crop of reflective roots rock cuts anchored in wisdom forged through a career spanning three decades.
Foster’s upbringing in the church comes through in overt gospel influences throughout, while songwriting partner Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe, who’s married to producer Tyler Bryant, brings a Southern rock edge. Bryant, meanwhile, underscores the grit and heft of the arrangements, but fails to bring out the power typical of Foster’s vocals.
Foster’s direct songwriting leans heavily on aphorisms, like on upbeat rocker “Yes”: “They say nothing’s new beneath the sun/ But I say it ain’t over till it’s done.” Whether finding peace in silence on “Sitting Still,” flipping the bird to haters on lead single “Thank You,” or breaking free from an evil ex on “Tangled,” Foster’s sermons deliver her to liberation. Now 62 and almost 30 years into her recording career, she’s earned that.
This article appears in August 21 • 2026.