It wasn’t too long ago that The Pretenders played San Francisco and the Bay Area. On the heels of a great performance the band has just announced the release of its long-awaited new album “Alone,” which was recorded with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Studio in Nashville and mixed by Tchad Blake (The Black Keys, Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson). The album was initially conceived as follow-up to legendary bandleader Chrissie Hynde’s acclaimed 2014 solo debut, “Stockholm,” but as its songs and sonics took shape, the collection soon revealed itself as the first all new Pretenders LP since 2008’s “Break Up the Concrete.”
“We were in the studio hanging out,” Hynde says, “and the guys were talking about their families and their wives and I said, ‘Well, I do everything alone. I go to the cinema alone. I go to restaurants alone. I live alone. I pretty much do everything on my own. I don’t mind.’ Dan says, ‘Write a song about it.’
“The more I thought about it,” she continues, “I thought, I’ve heard 1,000 songs in my life, they’re all about, I am so tired of being alone. I can’t live without you. Since you’ve left my world has fallen apart. When am I going to see you again? Marry me and be with me for the rest of my life. I have never heard anyone celebrate being alone in a song. I couldn’t think of one.”
“Alone” marks Hynde’s first musical effort since her 2015 memoir, “Reckless: My Life as a Pretender,” hailed by the New York Times upon its release as “honest and distinctive…first and foremost, a love letter to rock and roll.”
The Pretenders begin a North American tour with Stevie Nicks on October 25 at Phoenix, AZ’s Talking Stick Arena with a stop in San Jose, CA. and ending December 18 at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. The complete tour dates are below.
Tracklisting:
1. Alone Song
2. Roadie Man
3. Gotta Wait
4. Never Be Together
5. Let’s Get Lost
6. Chord Lord
7. Blue Eyed Sky
8. Be The Man That You Are
9. One More Day
10. I Hate Myself
11. Death Is Not Enough
12. Holy Commotion
# # #
THE PRETENDERS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH STEVE NICKS
OCTOBER
25 – Phoenix AZ – Talking Stick Arena
27 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
29 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
30 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
NOVEMBER
2 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
4 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – BB&T Center
6 – Atlanta, GA – Phillips Arena
7 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
10 – Charlotte, NC – Time Warner Cable Arena
12 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena
14 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
15 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
19 – Bethlehem, PA – Sands Bethlehem Event Center
20 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
23 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
25 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
27 – Detroit, MI – The Palace of Auburn Hills
29 – Toronto, ONT – Air Canada Centre
DECEMBER
1 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
3 – Chicago, IL – United Center
5 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
6 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
9 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Center
11 – Seattle, WA – Key Arena
13 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
14 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
18 – Inglewood, CA – The Forum
Photo courtesy of Big Hassle PR
