In celebration of their 40th Anniversary (1984-2024), legendary British AOR rock band FM have shared “Don’t Need Another Heartache”, the second single take from their forthcoming 14th studio album “Old Habits Die Hard”.
Watch the official music video for “Don’t Need Another Heartache” below.
Released to coincide with the band’s 40th Anniversary (1984 – 2024), vocalist, guitarist, and founding member Steve Overland says, “The new album encompasses the best melodic elements of the band’s illustrious 40-year spanning career. We really looked at what made the most popular FM albums great and tried to focus on that”
The new album, which will be released by Frontiers Records on Friday May 3rd, is now available to pre-order HERE.
“Heartache draws influences from the band’s love for bands like Free and Bad Company,” says FM’s lead singer Steve Overland. “It’s a straight-to-the-point, classic blues rock track.”
‘This song will probably be in the live set for the 40th-anniversary tour as it’s one of our favorites from the album,” explains drummer and founder FM member, Pete Jupp.
FM are known by many for their big choruses, twin lead guitars, and Steve Overland’s intimate, yet powerful vocals, and clean guitar sound.
Following 2022’s “Thirteen” album, “Old Habits Die Hard” was delayed slightly by keyboard player Jem Davis’ cancer diagnosis (thankfully he’s now received the all-clear) and then by the sudden passing of FM’s founding guitarist Chris Overland (Steve’s brother), which hit the band hard.
Over the past 12 months, during their extensive touring schedule, FM produced the album themselves and recorded the bulk of it at their own Dale View and Electric Pepperland recording studios.
The opening track and first single “Out of The Blue” was a song that originated from keyboard player Jem Davis. Says Jem: “The band loves the music of Toto and Foreigner and so I tried to put those influences into one track. ‘Once Steve got involved and started singing it, I knew that we were onto something special.”
“Out Of the Blue is a song that old-school FM fans will really latch on to,” says Steve. “So far, the reaction to the track has been amazing.”
“Whatever It Takes” and “No Easy Way Out” are typical FM melodic tracks and could fit seamlessly onto one of the band’s earlier classic albums. Bass player and founder member Merv Goldsworthy explains, “’No Easy Way Out’ has the big typical FM chorus. It’s a massive hook. The kind of thing that we’ve become known for. It’s one of my favorites on the album.”
The heavier side of the album is represented by “Lost,” “Another Day in My World,” and “Leap of Faith.” Whilst more hard-hitting, these songs embody the catchy melodic choruses that FM are known for.
“Cut Me Loose,” “California,” and “Blue Sky Mind” are poppier, more feel-good tracks. “Blue Sky Mind” was conceived again by keyboard player Jem Davis who originally wrote the song about his experience with his cancer diagnosis. “That song really was therapy for me. It was important that I got it out of my system and into music,” says Jem.
“Black Water” is a brooding, bluesy track that grows and grows. “This is a real favorite of mine,” says FM guitarist, Jim Kirkpatrick. “I could hear Brian May playing the guitar solo, so I pulled out my Brian May signature guitar and tried to do my best impersonation of him. Hopefully, I got somewhere close.”
“Old Habits Die Hard” Track-Listing
- Out of the Blue (4.21)
- Don’t Need Another Heartache (4.35)
- No Easy Way Out (3.54)
- Lost (5.20)
- Whatever It Takes (4.37)
- Black Water (4.52)
- Cut Me Loose (4.34)
- Leap of Faith (4.05)
- California (5.17)
- Another Day in My World (4.14)
- Blue Sky Mind (5.06)
