The Pretenders will play a trio of intimate UK club gigs next month in support of their latest album, ‘Relentless’.
Following the release of the LP, Chrissie Hynde and co. announced the shows at London’s Electric Ballroom, the O2 Ritz, Manchester and Barrowlands in Glasgow.
“Well, everyone prefers being in them [smaller venues]. I certainly would rather go to see a band in the club. So there’s that, because I’m still an audience member,” says the band’s frontwoman.
“And also it’s just more fun. It’s a small stage. And you can see everyone and they’re right in your face and it’s a laugh, that’s why you’re there. If I see some crazy in the audience, I can really feed off of that. You can’t see it when you’re too far away.”
Tickets go on general sale Friday, September 22. The full list of dates is below.
OCTOBER 2023
19 – Electric Ballroom, London
23 – O2 Ritz, Manchester
25 – Barrowlands, Glasgow
Clocking in at 12-tracks, ‘Relentless‘ marks the second time that the group has written an album as a collaboration between frontwoman Chrissie and guitarist James Walbourne, and is their first to be released via Warner Brothers – the parent company of Parlophone – since 1999.
Pretenders are excited to announce their brand new album 'Relentless'! Out 1st Sept 2023
— The Pretenders (@ThePretendersHQ) May 11, 2023
The first single 'Let The Sun Come In' is available to stream and download now.https://t.co/nIUhjsfCP4
Photo: @KiPricePhoto pic.twitter.com/gFHD8dSJqB
Discussing its title, Chrissie says: “I enjoy seeing the various meanings and origins of a word. And I liked the definition: ‘showing no abatement of intensity.’ So when it came to an album title, it seemed fitting. You know… to keep doing it.
“I think anyone in a band is constantly questioning if they should keep going. It starts as a youthful pursuit and eventually, it makes you wonder, why am I doing this? It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.”
The record is the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Hate For Sale’ and was conceived and recorded much in the same way.
“We had developed this method of working remotely and it seemed like we just kept on doing it for this album,” she adds. “This is something that we’ve honed down to an art in the last few years.
“[James Walbourne] always comes up with something I wouldn’t have thought of myself and I love surprises.”
Alongside lead single Let the Sun Come In, out now, ‘Relentless’ also includes a collaboration with composer Jonny Greenwood, who appears on the album’s closing track, I Think About You Daily.
Tracklist: The Pretenders – Relentless
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
