Bochum-based guitarist and composer Axel Rudi Pell is back with the title track, “Ghost Town,” the debut single and lyric video for his just-announced new album, also titled Ghost Town, set for release on March 20, 2026, via SPV/Steamhammer. For well over 35 years, Pell has been wowing fans with his unmistakable signature—a hybrid of powerful guitar riffs and catchy melodies, presented by his brilliant band, including American vocalist Johnny Gioeli and former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. The title track itself is a haunting, very catchy uptempo number that perfectly represents the album’s sound, which brings to mind the style of early Rainbow classics.
The new album is no exception to Pell’s history of including remarkable collaborations: it features a sensationally powerful duet on the track “Breaking Seals,” starring frontman Gioeli together with German metal legend Udo Dirkschneider—an absolute first in Pell’s long career. Pell produced the 11-track record himself, with Tommy Geiger providing valuable engineering support during sessions at the Blind Guardian Studios in Grefrath. This new offering cements Pell’s status as a veteran composer who continues to surprise and deliver high-stakes hard rock.
Fifteen years after her career’s height with Five Star, Deniece Pearson is back with a bold new chapter, announcing the release of her self-written and produced 15-track album, Free-Queen-See. The album is a rich blend of pop, reggae, and R&B, infused with spiritual insight and soulful harmonies that leverage her “Five Star harmonies” branding, but this time, the whole project is coming from one powerful, singular source. Pearson revealed that the loss of close friends and family inspired a turning point, pushing her into eight months of solitude where she “connected with God, my angels, and my spiritual guides and all these songs came through.” The album title itself is a play on “frequency” and “free queen,” reflecting its dual mission to elevate and to empower, centered on a message of manifestation and staying “happy and pure and kind.”
The album covers an impressive sonic and emotional range, starting with the sun-drenched bounce of the opening track, “Berry,” which Pearson cites as a favourite for its “Jamaican energy, playful, emotional, and full of heart.” Other standouts include “Deliverance,” which she describes as a Bob Marley-inspired anthem of unity and a return to “Utopia Africa.” For the festive season, Pearson has included the catchy new single “I Didn’t Know,” sparked by a conversation about Jesus. Tracks like “When Jesus Spoke” and “Like A Child” (with nods to 90s R&B legends like TLC) draw directly from scripture, but Pearson ensures melodic accessibility, flipping the script on negative messaging to “create something uplifting and positive, that still gets stuck in the subconscious mind.”
This new solo venture is rooted in a 40-year legacy that saw Pearson and Five Star achieve unprecedented success, including over 20 top thirty UK singles, a BPI Award for Best Pop Group, and setting a record for achieving seven consecutive hit singles from a single album in the UK. Even after the group, Pearson has maintained a high-profile career, including co-writing with Ryan Tedder and touring with The Jacksons. To support the new album, Pearson is currently planning a New UK Tour for 2026, titled An Audience With…, with initial live dates scheduled from April through December.
New Miserable Experience has revealed their new single, “The Devil We Know,” which is the latest preview of the Philadelphia-rooted collective’s new album, Gild The Lily, due out on January 23rd via Pelagic Records. This five-piece reshapes heavy-music rigor into expansive, melody-forward alternative synth-rock, a sound built from the foundation of vocalist/bassist David Grossman (ex-Rosetta) and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Mahesh Kost. The full lineup now includes Rosetta drummer Bruce “B.J.” McMurtrie Jr., technical-metal bassist Brett Bamberger (ex-Revocation), and guitarist Brody Uttley (Rivers of Nihil), each contributing a distinctive sonic fingerprint to their precise, textured craft.
Their third album, Gild The Lily, features twelve tightly arranged tracks that trade overt bombast for patience, building emotional weight through clear melodies and nuanced production. The band emphasizes careful craft over spectacle, shaping a sound that combines alternative synth rock with chorus-tinted guitars and a rhythm section that alternates between taut propulsion and roomy, reverb-soaked space. Comparisons can be drawn to artists as varied as Crosses, Ulver, and The Black Queen, proving that New Miserable Experience is creating a sound that truly rewards patient listening.
Hold on to your hats, because singer/songwriter Leah Blevins is back with another sonic gem, “Be Careful Throwing Stones,” hot on the heels of her Dan Auerbach-produced title track, “All Dressed Up.” Written by Blevins, Auerbach, and Daniel Tashian (of Kacey Musgraves fame), this track is pure fire, showcasing Blevins’ powerful storytelling and unflinching emotional honesty, all wrapped up in a glorious dash of ’70s retro glamour and sheen. It’s that perfect, timeless blend of Southern rock earthiness and pop-country shimmer, anchored by a twangy, Karen Carpenter-esque vocal clarity that will absolutely stop you in your tracks, making this latest glimpse into her upcoming album an essential listen.
Fifteen years into their career, the Los Angeles quartet Volumes—featuring Michael Barr, Myke Terry, Raad Soudani, and Nick Ursich—have announced their fifth album, Mirror Touch, set for digital release on December 12, 2025, via Fearless Records, with the physical album following on February 27, 2026. To signal the start of this new era, the band has dropped the visualiser for the new single, “S.O.A.P.,” a riff-roaring track with crunchy, industrial-tinged production that showcases the band at their most confident. The song, which the band says is about “pure and impure indulgence” and playing with fire, features a thunderous breakdown that sounds like Meshuggah or Fear Factory entering a cage match with the T-1000.
Volumes have always carved out their own corner of heavy music with an inimitable hybrid of prog-spiked metal and hardcore spirit, amassing over 167 million streams in the U.S. alone. This new album promises to fortify their sensory assault with thick riffing and the venomous bite of their two-headed vocal hydra. The new album, Mirror Touch, includes a collaboration with Black Sheep Wall and follows their acclaimed 2021 release, Happier?, which KERRANG! hailed for nodding to the band’s past while bringing in new ideas.
GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, and musician Lukas Nelson has just released American Romance, too, a new two-song collection featuring “A Certain Someone” and “The Last Wild River.” This release serves as a companion to his acclaimed 2024 album, American Romance, further expanding the creative world introduced on that record, which is itself nominated for Best Traditional Country Album at the upcoming Grammy Awards. Nelson shared that these two tracks “come from separate fountains of the American Romance spring”: “A Certain Someone” is a hopeful song written with Anderson East and Foy Vance and recorded at East’s studio, while “The Last Wild River” was written along Colorado’s Yampa River with a friend and recorded at Shooter Jennings’ studio in LA.
The main album, American Romance, was produced by GRAMMY winner Shooter Jennings, cementing Nelson as a singular artist through twelve tracks that showcase his songwriting dexterity and country-blended sound, featuring collaborations with Sierra Ferrell and Stephen Wilson Jr. This new collection adds to an already monumental year for Nelson, who has seen features on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Howard Stern Show, and The Joe Rogan Experience, along with sold-out headline shows and major festival appearances. His ability to tell road-tested stories of life, love, and heartbreak ensures this new two-song gift will resonate deeply with fans who are already immersed in the emotional scope of the American Romance universe.
American Romance – Track List
1. Ain’t Done 2. Pretty Much 3. Make You Happy 4. Outsmarted 5. Disappearing Light (with Stephen Wilson Jr.) 6. Born Runnin’ Outta Time 7. All God Did 8. Montana 9. Friend in the End (feat. Sierra Ferrell) 10. The Lie 11. American Romance 12. You Were It
UK indie rock band Goo has just released their new single, “Payday,” the first track from their upcoming debut album, which is scheduled to arrive in Spring 2026. Recorded with producer Andy Hawkins at The Nave, a former chapel in Stanningley, the song is a sharp, immediate blast of energy that dives straight into the strain and absurdity of trying to keep up with modern life. “Payday” comes backed by two exclusive B-sides: “Desiderium,” the second song the band ever wrote, and a raw cover of the Buzzcocks’ classic “What Do I Get?,” mixed by James Bragg.
This release builds on significant rising momentum for the band, who have quickly gained traction with their fast, fuzzy, straight-to-the-point sound. Goo has already sold out their debut EP, Chomp, twice on vinyl, played festivals across the UK and France, and earned support from BBC Introducing and Radio One. Looking ahead, the band is expected to join Marmozets for a sold-out winter tour hitting major UK cities before launching their own UK and European dates in support of the new album next spring.
Chicago-based alternative punk rock band Rise Against, one of the most accurately named acts in music, has announced a handful of headlining tour dates across Canada and the U.S. in the Spring of 2026. They’ll be bringing their signature sound and socially conscious music to the stage alongside special guests Destroy Boys. For over a quarter century, Rise Against has been a north star of artful resistance, blending melodic hardcore detonations with dire warnings about the looming dystopia. The tour kicks off on March 3rd in Providence, Rhode Island at The Strand and will hit major Canadian cities including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, plus U.S. stops in Pittsburgh, Madison, and Spokane, ensuring fans get a full dose of the visceral, urgent energy found on their latest Loma Vista release, Ricochet.
The band’s enduring spirit of rebellion—which has earned them praise from outlets like Rolling Stone and Billboard—will be on full display across this highly anticipated run. The schedule includes double nights in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg, offering fans multiple chances to catch their blistering live show. Tickets for all dates go on sale Friday, December 12th, at 10 AM local time, and you can grab them all through the band’s official website. This tour is a chance to see a band that continues to update their formula while sustaining the punk ethos that made them legendary.
Tour Dates:
March 3 – Providence, RI – The Strand March 5 – Montreal, QC – L’Olympia March 6 – Montreal, QC – L’Olympia March 8 – Ottawa, ON – Hard Rock Casino March 10 – Toronto, ON – History March 11 – Toronto, ON – History March 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE March 14 – Mt. Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino March 15 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee March 19 – Fargo, ND – Fargo Civic Center March 21 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre March 22 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre March 24 – Edmonton, AB – Convention Centre March 25 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre March 27 – Penticton, BC – Trade & Convention Centre March 28 – Vancouver, BC – PNE Forum March 30 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory March 31 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall April 3 – Reno, NV – Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort April 4 – Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live May 10 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville (Festival) May 14 – Sonic Temple – Columbus, OH (Festival)
The band’s enduring spirit of rebellion—which has earned them praise from outlets like Rolling Stone and Billboard—will be on full display across this highly anticipated run. The schedule includes double nights in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg, offering fans multiple chances to catch their blistering live show. Tickets for all dates go on sale Friday, December 12th, at 10 AM local time, and you can grab them all through the band’s official website. This tour is a chance to see a band that continues to update their formula while sustaining the punk ethos that made them legendary.
Acclaimed alt-pop duo Daisy Grenade is wrapping up an eventful 2025 by dropping a brand-new spin on the iconic Wicked duet, “For Good,” which is available now via DCD2/Fueled By Ramen. Given the duo’s musical theater roots, they felt it was time to go back to basics while staying true to their signature alt-rock style. Arranged simply for guitar, drums, and bass, this cover offers “alt-rock with a touch of Broadway,” showcasing their vocals in a completely new way. The track made its official debut last night at the sold-out hometown holiday spectacular, “Daisy Grenade Does Whatever the F*ck They Want,” at NYC’s Joe’s Pub, where they were joined by guests like Cassadee Pope.
This latest single continues a non-stop hot streak for Daisy Grenade, which included their emotionally charged offering “Good Luck (Wish You Hell)” this fall, a track praised by Melodic Magazine for showcasing the duo’s dynamic vocal range. That evocative power ballad was produced by two-time GRAMMY-nominee WZRD BLD, and was preceded by their infectious summer anthem, “Don’t Sweat It,” produced by Andrew Goldstein. Clearly, Daisy Grenade is an entity that is not only constantly creating but also isn’t afraid to put an unexpected rock twist on a classic Broadway hit.
The always revolving, ever-evolving collective known as Beauty In Chaos (BIC) is back with a powerful double A-side single, and today, they’ve dropped the video for their rendition of the Joe Strummer classic, “Get Down Moses.” This track, alongside their smokey cover of the traditional gospel hymn “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” (popularized by Johnny Cash), sees BIC curator and Schecter Guitars President Michael Ciravolo stepping up to handle lead vocal duties, in addition to his signature guitars and percussion work. Ciravolo explains that, like the gospel track, he felt a “spiritual calling” to cover this particular Strummer song, noting that the late Clash frontman’s lyrics—which attack governments, oppression, and the Catholic church—are certainly “timely” and just as socially important as anything he ever wrote.
The track was produced by the GRAMMY-nominated Michael Rozon (Ministry, Jarboe), who also handles bass, drum programming, and backing vocals on the track alongside Tish Ciravolo and Whitney Tai. The video, directed by Vicente Cordero, provides a slightly lighter visual contrast to the heavy subject matter, though Ciravolo’s “1977” shirt is a personal nod to Strummer’s era with The Clash. This new offering continues BIC’s history of massive collaborations, which has seen the project involve members of The Cure, Ministry, Cheap Trick, The Offspring, and Nine Inch Nails since its launch in 2018. If you want to hear a classic punk protest song delivered with a sleek, collaborative BIC twist, this one’s for you.
