The Pretenders Are Back With A New Album & Single!

The Pretenders are back!

Nearly 40 years after the band's seminal LP "Learning To Crawl" was released, Chrissie Hynde and her guys are back with a new album and have shared its first single.

The new record will be the band's first in almost three years. "Hate For Sale" was released in the Summer of 2020.

Lead singer Chrissie Hynde has seemingly been in a reflective mood this year. Hynde, 71, recently spoke out against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, sharing her feelings about the institution following Courtney Love's own statement against the institution. Hynde also documented a visit to original Pretenders' guitarist James Honeyman Scott's final resting place in Hereford, England.

The "Brass In Pocket" singer took to Facebook in April to speak out against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the class of 2023 was announced a month later.

Hynde, who is a member of the Hall of Fame's class of 2005 with the Pretenders, wrote, "If anyone wants my position in the rock 'n' roll Hall Of Fame they are welcome to it. I don't even wanna be associated with it. It's just more establishment backslapping. I got in a band so I didn't have to be a part of all that. I was living a happy life in Rio when I got the call I was being inducted," Hynde continued. "My heart sank because I knew I'd have to go back for it as it would be too much of a kick in the teeth to my parents if I didn't. I'd upset them enough by then, so it was one of those things that would bail me out for years of disappointing them. (like moving out of the USA and being arrested at PETA protests and my general personality)," she said.

"Other than Neil Young's participation in the induction process, the whole thing was, and still is, total b***ucks. It's absolutely nothing to do with rock and roll and anyone who thinks it is is a fool, XCH," the post concludes. (per Billboard)

Hynde documented her trip to Hereford, England, on Instagram in April.

She wrote her followers a letter, sharing details of her trip. When describing Honeyman Scott's headstone she wrote, "I include a picture of Jimmy's gravestone. It made me so happy to see that guitar players have visited it recently and left their plectrums/picks on it."

Honeyman Scott was part of the original Pretenders line-up and is featured on their first two LPs "Pretenders" and "Pretenders II." He died of a drug overdose in 1982.

The band shared the news of their upcoming album "Relentless" on their official Instagram account, sharing a photo and a reel featuring a clip of the single "Let The Sun Come In."

"Pretenders are excited to announce their brand new album "Relentless!" The post reads. "Out 1st September 2023," it reveals.

Hynde spoke to NME about the new record.

She said, "I like the definition: 'showing no abatement of intensity,' Hynde explained. "It's the life of an artist. You never retire. You become relentless."

Hynde also describes the creative process alongside Pretenders' current guitarist James Walbourne.

"We had developed this method of working remotely and it seemed like we just kept on doing it for this album. This is something we honed down to an art in the last few years," Hynde explained. "[Walbourne] always comes up with something I wouldn't have thought of myself and I love surprises," Hynde concludes.

The album will have 12 tracks and will be released on September 1st.