Jakob Nowell Sets Sublime’s Fourth Era With Until the Sun Explodes
jakob nowell says Sublime’s new album Until the Sun Explodes is a “love letter to my father,” and he places the project inside what he calls “the fourth era of Sublime.” The album is scheduled for release on Friday, June 12, giving the band a new full-length release under the frontman who joined in 2023.
Nowell also called the current lineup “the fourth era of Sublime” and, speaking via Zoom from his home in Long Beach, Calif., added, “So I consider us, like V4 of Sublime.” His framing turns the release into more than a catalog update: it is a statement about who gets to carry the name forward and how the band is being introduced to listeners who did not know its original run.
1988 to 2024
Bradley Nowell, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson formed Sublime in 1988, and the original band released three albums before Bradley Nowell died in 1996 from a heroin overdose at age 28. Sublime’s self-titled album arrived two months after his death and went five-times platinum, with “What I Got,” “Santeria” and “Wrong Way” becoming lasting hits. The line from that era to this one is now being drawn by Bradley Nowell’s son, who was 11 months old when his father died.
Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson started Long Beach Dub Allstars in 1997, which Nowell describes as Sublime’s second era. Sublime With Rome followed from 2009 to 2024 with Rome Ramirez fronting the group, and the current lineup now extends that history into a different version of the band rather than a reboot from scratch.
Bud Gaugh’s handoff
Gaugh said, “It just seems like a natural progression — wouldn’t it be cool if we could bring something new to the fans who haven’t seen Sublime before and give them their Sublime, because everybody’s listening to what their parents were hearing 30 years ago.” He added, “This is my band, too.” That is the practical pitch behind this release: keep the old catalog intact while making room for younger listeners to enter through a new frontman with the family name attached.
Nowell has said he taught himself guitar, struggled with drug use and alcoholism as a teen, and became sober at 17 with help from drug interventionist Todd Zalkins. He and other family members also established the Nowell Family Foundation to provide addiction recovery support for musicians, which gives the record’s family framing a sharper edge than a standard legacy-band rollout. For listeners, Until the Sun Explodes is not being sold as a nostalgia exercise; it is being presented as a line of succession, and the June 12 release will test how far that idea can carry Sublime’s name.
