Singer/songwriter Tyler Ballgame is sharing new single and video “Matter of Taste.” The track is off his forthcoming debut album For the First Time, Again, available January 30th. via Rough Trade Records. The song,” follows previous singles ‘I Believe in Love’ and ‘Got a New Car’.

“Matter of Taste” shows Ballgame and his band cutting loose, with what the singer-songwriter calls the trademark “Ballgame voice”. Lyrics like “Don’t let me go to waste / No I wasn’t worth my salt / Just a matter of taste / You don’t know me at all” acknowledge a desire for love – from a person, an audience – but also assert that it is just fine if one doesn’t receive it. “That’s not a rejection of me as a person, it’s just a matter of taste,” Ballgame explains.

Tyler Ballgame will tour behind For the First Time, Again throughout 2026, including dates supporting St. Paul and the Broken Bones in the UK before a number of in-stores across the country. March and April see Ballgame supporting St. Paul and the Broken Bones in the US and a headline tour of the UK and Europe, as well as dates supporting Alabama Shakes.

For the First Time, Again was recorded with Jonathan Rado (Foxygen, Miley Cyrus, Weyes Blood) and Ryan Pollie (Los Angeles Police Department). Drummer Amy Aileen Wood (Fiona Apple) and bassist Wayne Whitaker contribute mightily to the rhythm section of the album.

There was a moment when the album didn’t happen. Cloistered in his native New England, depressed and isolated during the pandemic, living in his parents’ basement, Ballgame knew in his heart he was destined for a life in music. He’d known it since he was a child growing up with a classically trained music teacher mom, who encouraged him to joyfully perform anytime, anywhere – which he did, to great effect. He’d known it when he obsessively downloaded classic rock from Napster, and when more than one teacher at the prestigious Berklee College of Music told him he had the goods, as both songwriter and vocalist. As Ballgame says, “I think I’m meant to sing for people.”

At his lowest point, Ballgame toiled on the cover band circuit, playing three nights a week in Rhode Island bars. Feeling he had little to lose, Ballgame applied online for an office job in Los Angeles, where he’d never set foot, and got the gig. With encouragement from a life-changing, body-positive-centric counselor, and the support of his family, Ballgame left the East Coast, he says, “in desperation to find myself.” As traveling companions, he carried books by philosophers Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now) and Alan Watts (The Way of Zen).

Ballgame was renting a room at Venice Beach, and slaying at a weekly open mic, playing his own songs. These low-stakes baby steps, Ballgame says, “spiraled out into a community. The move was the best thing that ever happened to me. It opened my eyes to the nature of risk, and the nature of betting on yourself. My whole album is about that experience.”

After a year of giging in Los Angeles, Ballgame met Pollie and Rado. The duo told him, “Let’s make a record – now!” Within a month, Ballgame had written a plethora of new songs.

Tyler Ballgame
For the First Time, Again
Track Listing
Rough Trade Records

or the First Time, Again
I Believe in Love
You’re Not My Baby Tonight
Matter of Taste
Got a New Car
Down So Bad
Goodbye, My Love
Ooh
Sing How I Feel
I Know
Deepest Blue
Waiting So Long

Tyler Ballgame 2026 Tour Dates

January 22 – Bristol, UK @ Electric Bristol^

January 23 – Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle NX^

January 24 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall^

January 25 – Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruit Market^

January 27 – Leeds, UK @ The Leeds Irish Centre^

January 29 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City^

January 30 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town^

January 31 – London, UK @ Rough Trade East

February 1 – London, UK @ Rough Trade West

February 3 – Brighton, UK @ Resident Music

February 4 – London, UK @ Banquet Records

February 5 – Leeds, UK @ Jumbo Records

February 20 – Tempe, AZ @ Innings Festival

March 24 – Tulsa, OK @ Caine’s Ballroom^

March 26 – Denver, CO @ The Misson Ballroom^

March 28 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival

March 29 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom^

March 31 – Medford, OR @ Holly Theatre^

April 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield^

April 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco^

April 4 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound^

April 5 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts^

April 7 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater

April 13 – Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain

April 14 – Cologne, Germany @ Stadtgarten

April 16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso (upstairs)

April 18 – Brussels, Belgium @ Rotonde

April 20 – Paris, France @ La Boule Noire

April 22 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club April 23 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts

April 25 – Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute

April 26 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece

April 29 – London, UK @ Scala

June 21 – Greenfield, MA @ Green River Festival

July 2 – Reading, UK @ The Mount at Wasing#

July 3 – London, UK @ Alexandra Palace#

July 4 – Barcelona, Spain @ Vida Festival

August 28 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Kalorama Festival

^ = w/ St Paul and the Broken Bones
# = w/ Alabama Shakes

Pre-order For the First Time, Again by Tyler Ballgame HERE