Def Leppard Announce New Album Featuring Alison Krauss On Two Tracks
Def Leppard have announced a new album, Diamond Star Halos, the glam-metal band’s first full-length since their 2015 self-titled release. The album, whose title is a reference to a lyric from T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong (Get It On),” will be out at the end of May. It was recorded remotely, with the band spread out over three different countries. “Everyone was due to come to my studio in Dublin the day lockdown kicked in,” Joe Elliott said in an interview with USA TODAY. “We made the decision to record remotely because we had no option. We had seven songs to start with and we wrote eight more and not once did we see each other.”
Def Leppard recruited a couple special guests to join them on it. Mike Garson, David Bowie’s pianist, performs on a pair of tracks, and there are two songs that feature vocals from Alison Krauss. Elliott explained how their collaboration with Krauss came about:
We’ve known Alison for a long time. She’s a big fan. And a lot of people don’t realize that when we worked with (producer) Mutt (Lange), a lot of the harmonies had a bit of a country tinge to them…I was texting with Robert Plant about soccer when he asked what we were up to and he said, ‘Alison is going to love this because you’re her favorite band. So I texted her and asked if she fancied singing on one of our tunes and she texted me back within 30 minutes and said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t pick one; I love them both.’ So we said how about you do them both?
Today, the band is sharing Diamond Star Halos lead single “Kick.” Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Take What You Want”
02 “Kick”
03 “Fire It Up”
04 “This Guitar” (Feat. Alison Krauss)
05 “SOS Emergency”
06 “Liquid Dust”
07 “U Rok Mi”
08 “Goodbye For Good This Time”
09 “All We Need”
10 “Open Your Eyes”
11 “Gimme A Kiss”
12 “Angels (Can’t Help You Now)”
13 “Lifeless” (Feat. Alison Krauss)
14 “Unbreakable”
15 “From Here To Eternity”
Diamond Star Halos is out 5/27 via UMe. Pre-order it here.