Photos: Mondo Cozmo to Release SWEET FOREVER Album, Tour in December

Mondo Cozmo, the musical moniker of Philadelphia-born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Ostrander, has announced his fifth studio album, Sweet Forever, arriving November 20 via Last Gang Records, and has released the title track and accompanying music video.

Photo Credit: Sye Williams

Sweet Forever marks a full-circle moment for Ostrander, bringing together celebrated collaborators, longtime creative champions and the musicians who helped shape him from the beginning to create some of the most vital work of his career. The album features Jim James of My Morning Jacket on 'White Roses' and acclaimed singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim on 'Alabama,' continuing a career-long pattern of respected artists recognizing the power of Ostrander's songwriting. Bruce Springsteen has publicly praised his work, while legendary producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig has become a trusted friend and creative champion, offering detailed feedback throughout the recording process and personally encouraging Ostrander to keep pushing the material forward.

At the same time, Ostrander returned to his musical roots, recording the album in his Napa garage with members of The Cobbs, the Philadelphia band whose musicians first taught him what it meant to be part of a band as a teenager. Reuniting with some of his oldest friends brought an instinctive energy to the sessions. Together, they played loud, favored feeling over perfection and chased the spontaneity of first takes, reconnecting Ostrander with the raw rock sound at the foundation of his artistry.

That convergence of old friends and new collaborators gives Sweet Forever its defining spirit. After years spent earning the admiration of influential voices across the industry, Ostrander found himself surrounded by people who believed in his work. Yet the creative breakthrough that brought them all together arrived from an intensely personal loss.

Ostrander offers the first glimpse of that new chapter with the uplifting, piano-led title track 'Sweet Forever,' accompanied by an official music video filmed at The Ruins in Napa Valley, California. Written following the death of Ostrander's beloved dog and namesake, Cozmo, the song finds him processing grief through gratitude. Rather than surrendering to the pain of losing someone, 'Sweet Forever' celebrates the privilege of having loved them at all, transforming heartache into something warm, hopeful and communal.

''Sweet Forever' was the first song I wrote after my dog Cozmo passed away,' Ostrander shares. 'I wanted to write something for him that I could actually sing without it hurting every time. A song about missing someone, but also just being grateful that you got to love them in the first place. That's really where 'Sweet Forever' came from.'

The accompanying video was filmed near the Napa garage where Ostrander recorded the album. Set against the weathered concrete and graffiti-covered walls of The Ruins, the visual mirrors the song's ability to find beauty, endurance and meaning in what remains.

'We found this place down the street from where we recorded called The Ruins,' Ostrander explains. 'It was an old concrete factory, and over the years people had covered the walls in graffiti. Standing in this beautiful old place that had survived so much felt strangely connected to the song. It didn't feel like a set. It felt like it belonged to the song and the moment.'

The loss of Cozmo opened an unexpected creative floodgate. After completing 'Sweet Forever,' Ostrander wrote 13 additional songs in just two weeks, digging into life, loss and renewal while rediscovering the immediate, visceral rock sound at the heart of Mondo Cozmo.

That burst of inspiration followed the remarkable resurgence of his 2016 breakthrough song 'Shine.' After the track closed the third season of Amazon Prime Video's Reacher in spring 2025, it reached a new global audience, becoming the most Shazamed song in the United States and Canada and generating a streaming increase of more than 1,000 percent. The response reminded Ostrander of the enduring connection his music could create and gave him another reason to follow the momentum wherever it led.

'Sweet Forever feels like the beginning of a new chapter for me,' Ostrander says. 'I made this record in my garage in Napa with some of my oldest friends, and we tried not to overthink any of it. We played loud, chased first takes and let the songs be what they wanted to be. There's a looseness and a joy to this album that I haven't felt in a long time. I think folks can expect a record that feels alive, human and a little rough around the edges. We put a tremendous amount of love into it, and I can't wait for people to hear the whole thing.'

With the musicians who formed his earliest creative foundation beside him, some of rock's most respected voices in his corner and a deeply personal loss transformed into renewed purpose, Sweet Forever captures Ostrander arriving at a moment years in the making. It is both a return to his roots and a decisive step forward, filled with the urgency, vulnerability and hard-earned joy of an artist making the album he was always capable of making.

Ostrander will also be taking the new music on the road as his December headline tour goes on sale today. The tour kicks off on December 5th at Chicago's Bottom Lounge and will hit Los Angeles' Troubadour on December 13th, a hometown show in Philadelphia at The Foundry on December 17th and New York's The Sultan Room on December 19th. Fans can purchase tickets at www.mondocozmo.com/tour, on sale today.

About Mondo Cozmo

Mondo Cozmo is the musical moniker of Philadelphia-born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Ostrander. After early stints in Laguardia and Eastern Conference Champions, Ostrander launched Mondo Cozmo and broke through with 'Shine,' the chart-topping single from his critically acclaimed debut album, Plastic Soul. The song introduced his anthemic, emotionally charged songwriting to a global audience and earned admirers including Butch Vig and Bruce Springsteen. Across a run of acclaimed albums, including 2024's It's PRINCIPLE!, Mondo Cozmo has built a singular body of work rooted in raw emotion, restless creativity and a determination to keep moving forward. Now based in Napa Valley, Ostrander opens a new chapter with his fifth studio album, Sweet Forever.

Sweet Forever Tracklist

1. 'Sweet Forever'

2. 'Jump The River'

3. 'Market Square'

4. 'White Roses' (ft. Jim James)

5. 'Hanging On'

6. 'What I Believe'

7. 'Alabama' (ft. Langhorne Slim)

8. 'Institution'

9. 'You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone'

10. 'Silver Linings'

Tour Dates

December 5 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge

December 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour

December 17 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry

December 19 – New York, NY – The Sultan Room

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