Let’s Kick Start a Party…
H.E.A.T, the Swedes who are making 80s-influenced hard rock fashionable once again, will release a brand new album via earMUSIC on August 5th, 2022. Their seventh studio record.
After a ten-year absence, the band’s original singer, Kenny Leckremo is back with their seventh studio album, “Force Majeure.”
Kenny Leckremo – Lead vocals
Dave Dalone – Guitars
Jona Tee – Keyboards
Jimmy Jay – Bass
Don Crash – Drums
This is unapologetic hair metal with insanely catchy riffs and chorus driven hard rock. Leckremo returns after the departure of Erik Grönwall, the former Swedish Idol winner who was the vocalist for four albums,
“When I left H.E.A.T I was convinced it was the right thing to do. It took a few years, but gradually I really missed being in a band with my childhood friends. There was nothing else I wanted but the opportunity to somehow get back either to H.E.A.T or to some sort of project together. When the guys sent me an email, I was thrilled to jump back on board. “
Returning the band to its original vocalist naturally fuses the sound to the first album, albeit with a sharp edge for the new decade. The sound is urgent and never disappoints. It boasts 11 new tracks, with the opener “Back to the Rhythm” kicking things off with an explosion of guitars and keyboards, think Dio. It is the type of song to launch any solid rock album. You should drive down the open road with this blasting out. Drummer Dan Crash would probably agree with me, but he has a different favourite,
“For me it’s ‘Nationwide.’ When I hear that song it makes me want to drive a car very fast, and to drink a beer — though not at the same time.”
So if there is a sudden spate of speeding after August 5th, we all know what to blame! As an album, it absolutely needs an Aston Martin!
“Hollywood” (video below) is one of the standout tracks on the album. For rock fans out there who want to spend the summer with a smile, belting out the tracks and playing some air guitar with the headphones on, then this is the album for you!
The album changes direction with the soulful ballad “One of Us” that is lyrically pleasing. Otherwise this is an all out rocker of an album, one for the fans, one that delivers exactly what the legion who love H.E.A.T expect. This is a band enjoying life and looking toward their fan base. It is a big return to form.
For any of our readers wanting to rock, the touring for ‘Force Majeure’ will have begun by the time you read this, with dates performed in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Finland, before the album’s release. H.E.A.T then fly to Australia and back home to Sweden before a long-awaited tour of the UK that begins in Leeds on October 14. And that’s just the beginning….
If you love bands such as Journey, Europe, Kiss (circa “Crazy Nights”) or Dio, then this is so much an album for you. It is also an album to blast away the cobwebs of the hard two years so many of us have been through.
Boom!
“Just look at what’s going on in the world, whether it’s a pandemic or war. We want to focus on
the good things in life,” Leckremo concludes. “That’s what makes music so special — it brings
people together.”
Benny (the Ball) Benson