Classic Rock Legends Honeymoon Suite Keep Their Promises On New Studio Release “Alive”
3 min read
They’ve been racking up the sales and accolades since 1983, HONEYMOON SUITE has moved over 1 million records worldwide and won the JUNO Award for Group of the Year in 1986. The band has many songs placed in major motion pictures and TV over the years such as the hugely successful Miami Vice TV series of the mid 80’s. In 2015, they were honored by Canadian radio for passing 100,000 plays of “New Girl Now” along with three of their other hits: “Burning In Love,” “Wave Babies” and “What Does It Take.”
2024. Even after 41 years, it isn’t enough for a band to merely remind you they’re still doing what they do. They need to reassure you they mean it. And that’s just what melodic-rock titans HONEYMOON SUITE are up to on the impassioned title track from their latest album, Alive.
Not just a declaration of survival but a vow of undimmed commitment, the song is an insistent, throbbingly sincere loyalty oath that could be coming from a faithful partner to the object of his eternal affections … or maybe from a grateful, hard-working band to the fans they value above all.
Nothin’ that you say can talk me outta you
I don’t need a reason not to try
‘Cause you make me feel … Alive!
Dave Betts’ galloping drums lead the charge for vocalist Johnnie Dee to issue his earnest proclamations in a voice that remains as clear as the proverbial bell. In between the achingly sincere choruses, guitarist Derry Grehan gets off a short-but-sweet burst of two-hands-on-the-fretboard mastery that reminds us why we fell for this immensely talented outfit in the first place. Rounded out by bassist Gary Lalonde and keyboardist Peter Nunn, even the accompanying music video is a not-so-subtle pledge of allegiance, putting the band in the thick of their home turf of Niagara Falls (the honeymoon capital of the Americas).
Watch for the physical Canadian release date of April 5, 2024 through Canadian label BCMG via distributor Music in Motion Ent, with BCMG distributed by Sony Orchard for digital. This follows the international release through Frontiers Music distributed worldwide by Sony/ Orchard. Alive is the eighth full-length record the band has released since bursting onto the scene in 1984.
Following up on the 2022 deluxe reissue of their classic Clifton Hill album, and 2017’s Hands Up EP, Alive is their first full length in 16 years. Their last single, 2020’s “Find What You’re Looking For,” hurtled the group back into the Billboard Top 30 in their native Canada for the first time in nearly two decades and the material on Alive seems destined to follow suit. Produced by Canadian hit machine Mike (K) Krompass (whose résumé includes songwriting and production work for Meghan Trainor, Steven Tyler, Theory of a Deadman and Smash Mouth), the album is 10 new tracks of sonic heaven.
Both CD and colored vinyl are rounded out by fresh reproductions and modernized remixes of two big hits from the group’s thick catalog: 1988’s “Love Changes Everything” and 1983’s “New Girl Now,” which became their first radio and MTV smash after winning a homegrown-music competition sponsored by Toronto rock station Q107. The Canadian CD release also includes two exclusive acoustic versions of “Alive” and “Doesn’t Feel Like That” as bonus tracks. Signed copies of Alive are available exclusively through their webstore.
The Honeymoon Suite lineup has been set in stone for nearly a quarter century. Not just maestros of the studio, they remain insatiable road hogs, with on-stage skills honed from years of international touring with the likes of ZZ Top, Heart, Billy Idol, Journey, Bryan Adams, Saga, Loverboy, Jethro Tull and 38 Special. Look for these seasoned yet still hungry pros to once again be treading the boards near you. They’re out to prove they’re not just Alive but kicking.
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