The Milk Carton Kids Release Lost Cause Lover Fool

The Milk Carton Kids release Lost Cause Lover Fool, their seventh studio album, continuing their minimalist sound and introspective songwriting.

EXTENSIVE INTERNATIONAL TOUR CONFIRMED

SET TO PERFORM ON CBS MORNINGS’ “SATURDAY SESSIONS”

Published: April 24, 2026
Updated: April 24, 2026
7:41 am
By: Creators Faire Editorial

April 24, 2026 – Critically acclaimed and much beloved folk duo The Milk Carton Kids—Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan—share their new album, Lost Cause Lover Fool, today via Far Cry Records in partnership with Thirty Tigers. Stream/purchase HERE.

Produced by Pattengale, Lost Cause Lover Fool is the duo’s seventh studio album, expanding on their signature minimalist sound while staying grounded in the intimate songwriting and understated arrangements that define their work. Already receiving critical attention, Glide declares, “The Milk Carton Kids fearlessly sit in emotions most would run away from to fuel Lost Cause Lover Fool. A check-in from a celebrated act that reminds us of their humanity through their whirlwind of success, these nine songs do more than extend an award-winning career,” while The Arts Desk praises the new collection as “a beautiful set of songs, slow-paced, and reflective, and you can’t help but be drawn in. Nothing flash, just honest-to-god beautiful music. It works every time.”

In celebration of the new music, The Milk Carton Kids will return to CBS Mornings’ “Saturday Sessions” tomorrow, before embarking on their extensive “Lost Cause Lover Fool Tour” this fall. Newly confirmed stops include New York’s Webster Hall, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club, Boston’s The Wilbur and Seattle’s Neptune Theatre among many others. Tickets for the new dates are now available for pre-sale, with general on-sale following next Friday, May 1 at 10:00am local time. Registration for pre-sale and details can be found at www.themilkcartonkids.com.

“This album is, at its core, a collection of songs about transformation,” Pattengale reflects. “About the shifting terrain of consciousness and the stories we build to understand who we’ve been, who we are, and who we’re becoming. Each song takes a single moment, sometimes examined with microscopic closeness and sometimes viewed from a great distance, and lets it expand until it becomes an entire world. By enlarging small feelings until they’re inhabitable, the record looks for eternity not in the sweeping or monumental, but in the intimate specifics that usually pass too quickly to notice.”

LOST CAUSE LOVER FOOL TRACK LIST

1. Blue Water

2. My Place Among the Stones

3. A Friend Like You

4. I’ll Go Home From Here

5. Lost Cause Lover Fool

6. Blinded and Smiling

7. Sad Song

8. Ribbon

9. Young Love

THE MILK CARTON KIDS TOUR DATES

BOLD on-sale next Friday, May 1 at 10:00am local time

July 21-24—Big Indian, NY—Sad Songs Summer Camp

August 15—Grand Prairie, AB—Bear Creek Festival

August 28—Olivebridge, NY—Summer Hoot Festival

August 29—Easthampton, MA—Arcadia Folk Festival

September 15—Knoxville, TN—Bijou Theatre*

September 17—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse*

September 18—Asheville, NC—The Orange Peel*

September 19—Carrboro, NC—Cat’s Cradle*

September 21—Washington, D.C. —9:30 Club†

September 23—New York, NY—Webster Hall*

September 24—Ardmore, PA—Ardmore Music Hall*

September 26—Boston, MA—The Wilbur*

October 7—Portland, OR—Revolution Hall*

October 9—Seattle, WA—Neptune Theatre*

October 10—Vancouver, B.C. —Hollywood Theatre*

October 15—South Salt Lake City, UT—The Commonwealth Room*

October 17—Denver, CO—Bluebird Theater*

October 18—Denver, CO—Bluebird Theater*

November 6—Toronto, ON—Massey Hall‡

November 8—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium†

November 15—Los Angeles, CA—The Fonda Theatre*

January 14—London, U.K.—Barbican Centre§

January 15—Bristol, U.K. —Bristol Beacon§

January 16—Manchester, U.K.—Albert Hall§

January 17—Glasgow, U.K. —Pavilion Theatre§

January 19—Dublin, Ireland—3Olympia Theatre§

*with Paper Wings

†with Paper Wings and Willie Watson

‡with Ron Sexsmith

§with Vera Sola

Founded in 2011, The Milk Carton Kids swiftly emerged as a major force in Americana folk tradition, blending ethereal harmonies and intricate musicianship with a contemporary songwriting sensibility. Renowned for their songwriting, folk sensibilities and vocal harmonies, the duo has earned four Grammy nominations, had their music featured in film and television projects, including Gus Van Zandt’s Promised Landand Tina Fey’s Girls5Eva, and collaborated with Joe Henry, Roxanne Cash, Sara Bareilles, and Josh Ritter, among many others. Their 2023 album, I Only See The Moon (listen/share here), received widespread praise, with Relix proclaiming, “A collection of songs bathed in warming eloquence and poetic nuance,” while Glide Magazine declares, “The eleven-song effort eases out majestically around the duo’s vocal harmonies and light acoustic instrumentation…listening to them [is] a joy.”

In October 2023, the pair founded the Los Angeles Folk Festival, with its first annual iteration earning accolades from Variety, The Bluegrass Situation, KCRW, The Orange County Register, and others. The festival has featured performances by critically acclaimed artists Emmylou Harris, Waxahatchee, Sierra Ferrell, Willie Watson, and more. Across all their endeavors, the duo remains dedicated to a single idea: music can help turn down the volume on a chaotic world and make room for what matters most.