Chrissie Hynde to Issue ‘Stockholm’ This June

This image has been archived or removed.

It’s been six years since Chrissie Hynde and her band, The Pretenders, released anything new—2008’s superb Break Up the Concrete being the most recent collection. And she dropped the Fidelity LP with Welsh singer J.P. Jones under the J.P, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys moniker in 2010. But here we are, with news that the songstress/guitarist will give us Stockholm, Hynde’s first-ever set under her own name on June 10 via Caroline Records.

But let it be known that this isn’t a proper solo album, as Hynde explained in a press statement: “It’s the first album with my name on it. But it’s not a solo album. In fact, making this album was more of a collaboration than any Pretenders album ever was.”

“I wanted to make a power pop album you could dance to – Abba meets John Lennon,” Hynde said.

We can get with that. We still can’t get enough of Pretenders tunes such as the badass “Tattooed Love Boys” and “Mystery Achievement” (see a clip from an old show in France below) from their 1980 self-titled debut or sly swagger of “My City Was Gone” from 1984’s Learning to Crawl. Gah, we can’t forget “Don’t Get Me Wrong” (Hey, 1986’s Get Close had some very bright rock’n’roll spots!) either. Chrissie Hynde has made her thirty-plus years in rock look so effortlessly cool. One of a kind, that girl from Akron, Ohio.

So who’s on this forthcoming 11-song set? Well, it was crafted in the album’s namesake with Bjorn Yttling of the Swedish indie-pop outfit, Peter, Bjorn and John. And the one and only Neil Young lends his guitar talents on the track, “Down the Wrong Way,” while tennis ace John McEnroe adds some riffage to “A Plan Too Far.” For those who don’t know, he and Hynde are longtime pals; just check ’em out here rockin’ out to the band’s classic tune, “Precious,” at the Roseland Ballroom in 2009. Additionally, Joakim Ahlund of the Caesars appears on Stockholm.

For a Stockholm sneak peek, check out a teaser below:

And “Dark Sunglasses” marks the album’s first single”

Stockholm tracklisting:

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 Ann)
10. Sweet Nuthin
11. Adding the Blue

As promised, here’s some vintage “Mystery Achievement” for your week. You wish you were as cool as Chrissie Hynde: