Originally attributable to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the phrase “that which does not kill us makes us stronger” seems especially apt when considering Chrissie Hynde’s career as Pretenders’ frontwoman. Jaw-dropping even by rock’s mercurial standards, her band’s history has scaled the highest of highs (their stunning initial triumvirate, Pretenders, Pretenders II and Learning To Crawl, long since enshrined the band’s legend among the world’s best rock bands) and sunk to the lowest of lows with the premature deaths of original members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon. Nonetheless, personal tragedy has invariably been followed by artistic triumph for Chrissie Hynde, and her band’s excellent 12th album, Relentless, again suggests her career has distance yet to run.
Return of Pretenders: “The life of the artist, you never retire”
Hynde has referred to the survival instinct that has often driven her in a statement issued ahead of Relentless’ release, suggesting that the dictionary definition of the record’s title – “showing no abatement of intensity” – is like “the life of the artist, you never retire”. Ultimately, however, Relentless is about more than simply endurance. Pretenders’ first studio album for Warner since 1999’s Viva Al Amor, it’s also their most high-profile release in years, and it arrives with a frisson of expectation that’s arguably been missing since 1994’s excellent Last Of The Independents.
Produced by David Wrench (David Byrne, Courtney Barnett) and the result of sessions at London’s Battery Studios, Relentless is the second Pretenders album on the trot to be written by Chrissie Hynde and guitarist James Walbourne. The latter – whose CV also includes work with artists as disparate as Jerry Lee Lewis and Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan – has been part of Pretenders’ line-up since 2008’s roots-flavoured Break Up The Concrete, but he really comes into his own on Relentless, proving himself a dextrous foil for Hynde throughout.
Meanwhile, the rest of the current team – bassist Dave Page, keyboard and guitar alumnus Carwyn Ellis and drummer Kris Sonne (deputising on record for Martin Chambers) – also acquit themselves admirably. In fact, their collective input suggests that Relentless – rather like its 2020 predecessor, Hate For Sale – is the result of a team effort rather than a Chrissie Hynde solo set presented under the Pretenders flag for convenience.
