Rod Stewart Announces New Album, ‘The Tears Of Hercules’
Rod Stewart has announced his 31st studio album, The Tears Of Hercules, out on 12 November and available to pre-order here. The album is available on standard black vinyl, green vinyl (exclusive to Dig!), CD and digital. Fans who pre-order from the Dig! Store will be given early access to future Rod Stewart UK tour dates.
Ladies & gentlemen, exciting news!
My new album, THE TEARS OF HERCULES will be available on CD, vinyl & digitally on Nov 12th.
I’ve never said this before about any previous efforts, but I believe this is by far my best album in many a year.
Pre-order: https://t.co/d2tvBAzha4 pic.twitter.com/aftLNacmzf
— Sir Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) September 16, 2021
The singer announced the album in typically casual fashion, with a video on his socials. He added on Twitter: “I’ve never said this before about any previous efforts, but I believe this is by far my best album in many a year.”
It’s Stewart’s fourth new album of original songs since 2013 when he reconnected with his songwriting muse to record Time, the chart-topping album which entered the Top 10 in the US and ten countries worldwide, including No 1 in the UK, where it’s been certified platinum double-platinum. For his latest, Stewart wrote nine of the album’s 12 songs, including the first single, “One More Time,” which is available today on all digital and streaming services.
The Tears Of Hercules is a project close to Stewart’s heart, especially the song Touchline, which he dedicated to his father, who taught him and his brothers to love football, a tradition Sir Rod has passed down to his sons.
To make The Tears Of Hercules, Stewart once again worked with Kevin Savigar, the keyboardist-songwriter-composer who has co-produced Stewart’s last three studio albums: Time (2013), Another Country (2015), and Blood Red Roses (2018). Their long-running collaboration began in 1978 when Stewart invited Savigar to join his studio and touring band. In addition to One More Time, they also co-wrote the stand-out tracks Hold On and All My Days. Stewart co-wrote Born To Boogie (A Tribute To Marc Bolan) with Emerson Swinford, the guitarist in his band. Stewart, Savigar, and Swinford share songwriting credit on I Can’t Imagine.
Stewart has always had a gift for making any song sound like it was written just for him. That’s certainly true of the album’s title track, a powerful ballad written by Marc Jordan. Additional covers include Stewart’s joyful take on Soul Brother Six’s Some Kind Of Wonderful, and his stirring rendition of Johnny Cash’s These Are My People.
The Tears Of Hercules Tracklisting
1. One More Time
2. Gabriella
3. All My Days
4. Some Kind of Wonderful
5. Born to Boogie (A Tribute To Marc Bolan)
6. Kookooaramabama
7. I Can’t Imagine
8. The Tears of Hercules
9. Hold On
10. Precious Memories
11. These are my People
12. Touchline