Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Chrissie Hynde has been in the news lately for slagging off the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame; she’s as real as it gets. Hynde founded the Pretenders in 1978, and she’s continued to lead her band through tragic deaths and lineup changes and shifting tides for the past 45 years. With very few breaks, the Pretenders have continued to steadily crank out new albums every few years. This summer, they’ll return with Relentless, their 12th studio LP.

Relentless follows the Pretenders’ 2020 album Hate For Sale, and it’s almost comforting that a legendary band can still release a new record with such mystifyingly ugly cover art. As with Hate For Sale, Chrissie Hynde co-wrote every song on the LP with guitarist James Walbourne, who joined the Pretenders in 2008 and who wasn’t yet born when Hynde started the group.

Here’s what Chrissie Hynde says about Relentless:

I enjoy seeing the various meanings and origins of a word. And I liked the definition: “Showing no abatement of intensity.” So when it came to an album title, it seemed fitting. You know… to keep doing it. I think anyone in a band is constantly questioning if they should keep going. It starts as a youthful pursuit, and eventually it makes you wonder: Why am I doing this? It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.

The Pretenders recorded Relentless in London with Let’s Eat Grandma producer David Wrench, and its closing track “I Think About You Daily” has a string arrangement from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. First single “Let The Sun Come In” is a tough, world-weary rocker with shiny new wave hooks and lyrics about avoiding the ravages of time: “We don’t have to get fat, we don’t have to get old.”

Below, check out “Let The Sun Come In,” the Relentless tracklist, and the Pretenders’ up coming tour dates, including a bunch of European shows with Guns N’ Roses.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Losing My Sense Of Taste”
02 “A Love”
03 “Domestic Silence”
04 “The Copa”
05 “Promise Of Love”
06 “Merry Widow”
07 “Let The Sun Come In”
08 “Look Away”
09 “Your House Is On Fire”
10 “Just Let It Go”
11 “Vainglorious”
12 “I Think About You Daily”

TOUR DATES:
5/12 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
5/13 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
5/14 – Cambridge, UK @ MASH
5/16 – Frome, UK @ Cheese & Grain
5/17 – Stoke, UK @ The Sugarmill
5/19 – Limerick, Ireland @ Dolans
5/20 – Cork, Ireland @ Cypress Avenue
5/21 – Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia Theatre
5/23 – Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Limelight
5/25 – Stornoway, UK @ Midnight Sun Weekender
5/28 – Derbyshire, UK @ Bearded Theory
5/30-31 – Antwerp, Belgium @ De Roma
6/09 – Madrid, Spain @ Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano *
6/11 – Oxfordshire, UK @ KITE Festival
6/12 – Vigo, Spain @ Estadio Abanca Balaídos *
6/16 – Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain @ Azkena Festival
6/17 – Kent, UK @ Black Deer Festival of Americana
6/27 – Glasgow, UK @ Bellahouston Park *
6/30 – London, UK @ BST Hyde Park *
7/03 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Deutsche Bank Park *
7/05 – Bern, Switzerland @ BERNEXPO *
7/08 – Rome, Italy @ Circo Massimo *
7/11 – Weert, Netherlands @ Evenemententerrein *
10/01 – Dana Point, CA @ OHANA Festival

* with Guns N’ Roses

Relentless is out 9/1 on Warner Music Group.