The Pretenders Announce New Album ‘Relentless,’ Share First Single ‘Let the Sun Come In’
The Pretenders are back with a new album, Relentless, Chrissie Hynde and company’s first LP in three years.
“I enjoy seeing the various meanings and origins of a word,” Hynde said of the album title in a statement. “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.”
Ahead of the album’s September 1 release, the Pretenders have shared the first single, “Let the Sun Come In”:
Relentless finds Hynde and guitarist James Walborne working with producer Dave Wrench and a band they’ve dubbed The Pretenders Collective: Kris Sonne (drums), Chris Hill (double bass), Dave Page (bass), and Carwyn Ellis (keyboards and guitars). Additionally, on the album closer “I Think About You Daily,” they collaborated with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, who orchestrated the strings on the track.
“I met Jonny a couple of times and we’re obviously big fans of him because he’s done some incredible music over the years,” Hynde said in a statement. “I saw him at the Phantom Thread premiere where the film was running on screen with a live orchestra playing. And we spoke afterward and he expressed an interest in doing something one day. I was thrilled and very surprised. So when we had the idea of getting strings on ‘I Think About You Daily,’ he was first choice. Legend!”
Relentless, available to preorder now, also marks the Pretenders’ return to Warner Music Group — in this case, WMG’s Rhino label — after over 20 years away: The band initially signed in America with Seymour Stein’s Sire — a WMG subsidiary — in 1979.
The Pretenders, who last released Hate for Sale in 2020, have also mapped out a European tour this summer in support of the album (and Guns N’ Roses), with one U.S. stop planned so far, an October 1 gig at the Ohana Festival.
Relentless Track List:
Losing My Sense Of Taste
A Love
Domestic Silence
The Copa
Promise Of Love
Merry Widow
Let The Sun Come In
Look Away
Your House Is On Fire
Just Let It Go
Vainglorious
I Think About You Daily