After 37 years at the helm of The Pretenders, iconic frontwoman Chrissie Hynde is going solo, announcing plans to release her first-ever album under her own name, an 11-song collection called Stockholm
Below, check out the new song, plus the full Stockholm tracklist.
Tracklist: Chrissie Hynde, Stockholm
1. “You Or No One”
2. “Dark Sunglasses”
3. “Like In the Movies”
4. “Down the Wrong Way”
5. “You’re the One”
6. “A Plan Too Far”
7. “In a Miracle”
8. “House of Cards”
9. “Tourniquet (Cynthia Anne)”
10. “Sweet Nuthin'”
11. “Adding the Blue”
But haven’t they all been kind of solo-albums? I mean, she’s the songwriter and obvious driving force of the Pretenders, and the “relationship” between Chrissie and drummer Martin Chambers has always been frosty/nonexistent so…
@Nick, I was going to ask something similar: Couldn’t the 1990 Pretenders LP, PACKED! pass as a virtual solo disc? Are any of the players/members of The Pretenders featured on this new LP/CD, or will this album feature various non-band member musicians? Either way, I’m rather excited. And, side note, THIS LADY DOESN’T AGE! She looks just as “cool hand Luke” in 2014 as she did in 1979! The first EP album I ever purchased for myself as a kid (age 9) was the Pretenders’ EXTENDED PLAY, and I’ve been enamored with this rock Queen ever since. As a little boy, it was Stevie Nicks, Olivia Newton-John, Deborah Harry, Pat Benatar, and Chrissie Hynde that taught me just how powerfully-poetic, cool, and rockin’ women can naturally be.
Wow! If the music is all good, this Spring and Summer of 2014 will be quite the sonic experience: Between Blondie’s new disc in May, possibly/probably two new albums from Siouxsie, and now Chrissie Hynde releasing her first “official” solo disc, it’ll be like the hey-day of the late 1970s and 1980s all over again.
Rock on, Ladies.
P.S. Now, on to the new single release debut by Miss Hynde.
P.P.S. I really hope all of these releases get proper rotation on the respective radio stations in America and Europe. That would certainly be a corrective tonic to the mediocrity that gets constant play these days.
Extended Play is fantastic and Cuban Slide is one of my favorites. Have you ever heard, In The Sticks? It’s an instrumental they did in their early days and can be found on the excellent Attack of the Killer Bs album. Highly recommended.
I hope she tours and plays Chicago. I have been aching to see her live for so long.
And Chrissie going solo is like Robert Smith of The Cure going solo. It’s always been Chrissie anyway…
@Nick & Steve, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT EXTENDED PLAY (1981), I’d never heard a song like “Porcelain” before at 9, and I loved “Cuban Slide” (one of my first favorites), and don’t get started on “Message of Love”, “Talk of the Town” and the live Central Park rendition of “Precious” (which was the first time I heard the song…didn’t catch the “F-off!” when I heard the album at all, from what I remember). The artwork and packaging had me, too, especially since I’ve always had a thing for the color blue and puffy clouds, except — NO LYRICS! RATS!. I had it in vinyl and cassette. Unfortunately, 3 years later, I accidentally sat on my bed and broke the record, forgetting it was on the bed, under a sheet. I also lost the sleeve, as well. I’m still unhappy w/ that.
Yes, I believe I did hear “In the Sticks” from one of the deluxe reissues in 2006/7. Heard “Dark Sunglasses”, and LOVED IT! (She damn well better get a Grammy nomination for it!) Sounded like an unreleased song from 1979’s debut; and Chrissie sounds virtually the same as she did then. Now, I’m really excited (*Now, I’m hoping that Chrissie’s punk Sister/rock Witch Queen, Siouxsie’s next single can equal it). I’m a little down that she didn’t include some of her random unreleased treasures/demos, like, “Suicide” and “Superstar”, “I Wish You Love”, etc., along w/ her out-of-the-way solo singles over the last few decades…honestly, at 62, she could have featured 17 new/classic tracks, and made her debut solo disc a double CD/vinyl LP album. Unless there will be a Target Special Edition that features extra tracks, like Best Buy had w/ BREAK UP THE CONCRETE. I hope this LP is eclectic, and gives us many different tastes from various genres, and the Chrissie displays all of the different tones and experiences of her voice.
I hope this debut goes goes Gold and or Platinum in the U.S.A. over 2014/2015. That would be great.
I think the difference, Steve, is that by naming it a solo album, she frees herself from any direct, clear connection to The Pretenders’ record history, however inter/intra-related the two are. Also, there is a clear difference between Smith and Hynde: Hynde would never have been perceived as “solo-ish” since 1986-90,-2008, had James and Pete not both died w/in a year of each other…the group would’ve maintained their power and promise, but not-to-be. I think that loss made Chrissie rethink things in a way. That original foursome had a magic that after 1985, she didn’t seem invested in w/ the other incarnations…which I think was an error and mistake on her part. It’ll be interesting to comapre this album to the 1986 and 1990 albums.