The Pretenders Announce New Studio Album ‘Relentless’
The Pretenders will return with Relentless, their fourteenth studio album, due for release 1 September 2023 via Parlophone.
pre-order Relentless here
Relentless is a clearly defined snapshot of where The Pretenders are in 2023. Arriving with the impulsiveness and attitude that at once defines the band’s eternal spirit, brand new single Let The Sun Come In is also released today, following a premiere on the BBC Radio 2 Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. Listen below.
Speaking about the album title, Chrissie Hynde said: “I enjoy seeing the various meanings and origins of a word. And I liked the definition: “showing no abatement of intensity”. It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.”
The news arrives as The Pretenders look ahead to a massive summer of live performances. Tomorrow night, Friday 12 May, the band will unleash new songs from Relentless as they headline Brighton’s Great Escape Festival, starting a sold out tour of very special exclusive club shows visiting some of the UK and Ireland’s most intimate venues.
On 30 June The Pretenders will join Guns N’ Roses as special guests at London’s BST Hyde Park, and at huge outdoor shows in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands, before headline performances at summer festivals including Midnight Sun, Bearded Theory, Black Deer and Kite. In October the band will land in America to play Ohana Festival, California, by invitation of Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl. More 2023 live activity is soon to be announced.
Relentless is the second consecutive Pretenders album to be written as a collaboration between Chrissie Hynde and the band’s resident guitar hero, James Walbourne. Especially sought after in his own right, having recorded with Dave Gahan, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Rails amongst many more.
Relentless is The Pretenders’ first album to be released via Warner Brothers – Parlophone’s parent record label – since 1999. After first signing to small independent label Real Records on the back of the heyday of punk rock, The Pretenders’ first single led them to sign with Sire – whose parent company was also Warner Brothers – via legendary A&R Seymour Stein, a partnership lasting 20 years.
‘Relentless’ Tracklist
1. Losing My Sense Of Taste
2. A Love
3. Domestic Silence
4. The Copa
5. Promise Of Love
6. Merry Widow
7. Let The Sun Come In
8. Look Away
9. Your House Is On Fire
10. Just Let It Go
11. Vainglorious
12. I Think About You Daily
Pretenders 2023 Live Dates – find remaining tickets for headline shows here
12th May Great Escape Festival, Brighton
13th May Rescue Rooms, Nottingham SOLD OUT
14th May MASH, Cambridge SOLD OUT
16th May Cheese & Grain, Frome SOLD OUT
17th May The Sugarmill, Stoke SOLD OUT
19th May Dolans, Limerick SOLD OUT
20th May Cypress Avenue, Cork, Ireland SOLD OUT
21st May Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
23rd May Limelight, Belfast, Northern Ireland SOLD OUT
25th May Midnight Sun Festival, Stornoway, Scotland (headlining)
28th May Bearded Theory, Derbyshire (headlining)
30th May De Roma, Antwerp
31st May De Roma, Antwerp
9th June Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain (with Guns N’ Roses)
11th June Kite Festival (headlining)
12th June Estadio Abanca Balaídos, Vigo, Spain (with Guns N’ Roses)
16th June Azkena Festival (headlining)
17th June Black Deer Festival (headlining)
27th June Bellahouston Park, Glasgow (with Guns N’ Roses)
30th June BST Hyde Park, London (with Guns N’ Roses)
3rd July Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany (with Guns N’ Roses)
5th July Bernexpo, Bern, Switzerland (with Guns N’ Roses)
8th July Circo Massimo, Rome, Italy (with Guns N’ Roses)
11th July Evenemententerrein Weert Noord, Netherlands (with Guns N’ Roses)
1st October Ohana Fest, CA (with Foo Fighters)