Legendary UK hard rockers Little Angels are back with brand new material. An EP of five tracks, their first new recordings since 1994. I got to see Little Angels live a few times back in the early ‘90s and they were a constant of the rock press and TV shows. Their popularity has never waned with their hardcore fans, and frontman Toby Jepson has certainly kept himself busy and visible over the years. The band made a low-key acoustic appearance at last year’s Steelhouse festival and have since announced a UK tour that begins in November.

The band admit that making new music had to be done right –  “We would never make a new record unless we felt we still had something to say… and it turns out we do. Toby started writing new ideas, and while we were rehearsing the set for the tour, we started to jam around this new material, and it just felt great.”

The EP was recorded at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire and mixed by the renowned Mike Fraser in Vancouver. The EP sounds very fresh and relevant, with nostalgic lyrical content around the band’s glory days. Toby Jepson explains the thought process behind the new material: “Lyrically, the challenge was always going to be: how do you take what Little Angels represented back then and bring it into the modern world with guys that are now in their mid-50s?

“We discussed what the past meant to us and the penny dropped. This wasn’t about youth anymore, of course not; it’s about reflecting on where we had come from, and the kind of people we are now and all of a sudden, it made sense – this is about returning home.”

Opening track All For One kicks off the EP in style, big keyboard riffs, solid as fuck drumming from Mark Richardson, who has been Skunk Anansie’s tub thumper since the ‘90s, and we get a huge anthemic chorus to boot. Next up is the single Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now), which is another fist-pumping track, some great guitar work from Bruce Dickinson and some gospel-style BV’s really elevate the song to another level.

Small Town Boys features a Who-like feel with its wistful keyboard opening. We soon get back to familiar ground with another earworm of a chorus. Great stuff. You Want Love takes me back to the early ‘90s. I think back to those days of consuming Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and RAW magazine, buying albums and heading off to gigs with mates. I just see Little Angels in the Marquee Club with sweat dripping off the walls…

The EP closes with the fantastic Raised To The Ground, another barnstormer. The band sounds revitalised, powerful and ready for a full album? We shall see.

 Pre-order CD & Vinyl HERE
 Pre-Save EP HERE

Author: Kenny Kendrick