Release:

Spinefarm Records / Universal
18.11.2011

Info:

HOUSTON, the Swedish outfit whose debut self-titled release was voted ‘AOR Album Of The Year’ (2010) by Classic Rock / AOR magazine, will have a brand new mini-album released on November 18th through Spinefarm Records.

Titled ‘Relaunch’ and produced – as with the ‘Houston’ debut – by AOR connoisseur Ricky Delin, the full track-listing is as follows, with one original composition plus two bonus acoustic tracks taking the number of songs up to nine:

1) Runaway (originally recorded by US rockers Dakota)
2) Carrie (originally recorded by Michael Bolton)
3) Brief Encounter (originally recorded by UK melodic maestros Airrace and featuring Airrace’s Laurie Mansworth on guest guitar)
4) Don’t You Know What Love Is (originally recorded by US outfit Touch, the first band ever to play the Monsters Of Rock festival, and featuring Touch keyboard player Mark Mangold on guest vox)
5) Don’t Ever Wanna Lose You (originally recorded by US four-piece New England, whose self-titled debut album was produced by Kiss’ Paul Stanley)
6) Didn’t We Almost Win It All (originally recorded by the late Laura Branigan)
7) Without Your Love (original song written by Ricky Delin; a duet with Amaranthe front-woman Elize Ryd)
8) Truth Slips (acoustic recording)
9) 1000 Songs (acoustic recording)

Says Houston drummer & core member, Freddie Allen:

"This year has been so great for Houston, with the first album getting so much recognition, so we just wanted to show everyone where we come from musically. ‘Relaunch' is a way of paying tribute to our heroes, whilst at the same time updating today's audience on the classic AOR songs we have loved for so long. The Michael Bolton composition 'Carrie' was a track we felt has been somewhat overlooked through the years, and the same with the Laura Branigan ballad, 'Didn't We Almost Win It All'. Meanwhile, 'Runaway', the opening track, by Dakota, is a genuinely classic song, and that’s also true of Airrace’s 'Brief Encounter'. To top it all off, our producer Ricky Delin wrote a new song called 'Without Your Love', and the mini-album also includes acoustic versions of two of the debut album's songs, which we recorded in London back in March. We sincerely hope you will enjoy this record as much as we do!"