Good news: The forecast for late October calls for “Heartbreak, Misery & Death.”

On Tuesday, Alabama singer-songwriter Grayson Capps gave a first taste of his new album by that name, and described the tantalizing concept that goes with it. It’s a collection of 16 traditionals and folk songs previously performed by the likes of Doc Watson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Randy Newman and Gordon Lightfoot.

The first single out is “Moody River.” It isn’t really what you’d call a traditional or a folk song, though Capps and guitarist extraordinaire Corky Hughes certainly make it sound like one. First recorded as a slick pop song by writer Gary Daniel Bruce, aka Chase Webster, in 1961, it was given an even glossier turn by Pat Boone the same year and became a No. 1 hit.

It’s the compact lament of a man who finds his love has committed suicide by drowning in a river “more deadly than the vainest knife,” rather than confess her infidelity to him. As such, it sets the mood for a track list heavy on untimely death, broken hearts and forlorn drunkenness: “Wake Up, Little Maggie,” “Columbus Stockade Blues,” “Barbara Allen,” “Early Morning Rain,” “St. James Hospital” and more. (This will be leavened somewhat by the inclusion of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and moonshine ballad “Copper Kettle,” which Capps refers to as “the greatest campfire song of all time.”

In a release announcing the album, Capps said the unifying theme goes back to his childhood, when his father, Ronnie Capps, listened to such songs or played and sang then with friends Fred Stokes and Bobby Long. “I guess that’s where I learned the joy associated with singing and playing guitar,” Capps said in the release. “As the album title suggests, I have always gravitated toward dark songs.”

Note: The novel “Off Magazine Street” by Capps’ father was turned into the John Travolta movie “A Love Song for Bobby Long;” Capps wrote the title track for the soundtrack album.

Many of the songs also conjure up more specific memories, Capps said in the announcement. “We listened to the Peter, Paul & Mary version [of Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Early Morning Rain’] after taking a severely hung-over Bobby Long to the airport on a rainy morning with no shoes on his feet, headed to Las Vegas. I see him there every time I sing. … A little later on, I discovered Randy Newman, and it wasn’t until spending some time playing on the streets of New Orleans that the song ‘Guilty’ became a sordid truth in my life.”

“Heartbreak, Misery & Death” will be released Oct. 25 on the Royal Potato Family label. The album will be available on vinyl, CD and streaming formats. Capps will tour Europe leading up to the release, with October dates in Germany and the Netherlands. For information, visit graysoncapps.com.