This week's round-up: New music from Robert Jon & The Wreck, Stone Angels and This House We Built
- photogroupie
- 13 hours ago
- 6 min read
Southern California rockers Robert Jon & The Wreck unveil “Dark Angel,” the latest single from their highly anticipated studio album Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes, due out August 22nd via Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. Produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Rival Sons), the track is available now on all major streaming platforms HERE.
“Dark Angel” tells the story of a mysterious woman in Savannah, Georgia—equal parts memory, mirage, and muse. With evocative storytelling, moody guitar licks, and a groove steeped in country-soul swagger, the track captures a shadowy slice of Southern mythos, blurring the line between love and longing.
“‘Dark Angel’ was another song that came out of our writing sessions at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A,” says guitarist Henry James. “We had the privilege of working with singer-songwriter Leslie Satcher (George Strait, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson, Patty Loveless, and Vince Gill), with lyrics inspired by one of her personal experiences as a touring musician. It tells the tale of an encounter with a mysterious woman in a bar in Savannah, GA—leaving plenty of room for poetic embellishment. Her knack for storytelling and wordplay was evident, and we had great chemistry as line after line poured out of her. The song was a natural fit for Cobb’s production, with punchy riffs and a classic southern/country rock groove. By coincidence, we recorded the song in the very city that inspired it—Savannah. We’re excited and proud to share ‘Dark Angel’ with the world.”
“Dark Angel” follows a string of singles that showcase the wide emotional and sonic spectrum of Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes, including the swaggering “Better Of Me,” the electrifying “Highway,” the reflective “Ashes in the Snow,” the smouldering “Long Gone” (co-written with John Oates), and the high-octane “Sittin’ Pretty.” Each track further solidifies the band’s identity as a modern rock powerhouse rooted in timeless American traditions.
Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes was recorded in Savannah with the band living communally throughout the process—eating, writing, and recording together under Cobb’s watchful eye. The album captures the raw chemistry that has made their live shows legendary, pairing hard-driving rockers with heartfelt ballads, all anchored by the band’s sharp musicianship and soul-baring lyrics.
“This record really represents who we are right now, both musically and personally,” says frontman Robert Jon Burrison. “We stepped away from our day-to-day and just focused on the songs, and you can feel that in every track.”
Mixed by Greg Gordon (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), the album will be available on CD, digital platforms, and limited-edition coloured vinyl, with special merch bundles including an exclusive shirt and bandana.
Hard-grunge rockers Stone Angels release the poignant yet uplifting ‘Up In Smoke’ being the title track and final single of their highly acclaimed sophomore album which is available now on CD and vinyl direct from the band. Founding member and guitarist James Innes candidly reveals the traumatic inspiration of the song of which he sings lead vocal “On November 7th 2019 at approximately midday, a fire broke out in my house while I was inside. The trauma of watching my home, my safe space be destroyed by the blaze sent me into a depressive spiral, especially as the pandemic quickly followed.” Opening up on stumbling at first, but then endeavouring through the adversity, “It’s the closest that I have ever been to becoming an alcoholic. At times it felt like the only release I had, but I challenged myself to write about the ordeal rather than bottle it up or seek solace in the bottom of one. It was the most difficult song that I have written, but with the support of my wife, bandmates, family and friends I was able to heal. While it starts in the dark, you eventually end up seeing the light…it was my way of adding a silver lining to that smoke cloud.”
With the album armed to the teeth with a flurry of sledgehammer riffs, colossal choruses and unabashed wailing solos, and in a departure from the norm, the collection of 9 hard-hitting songs has been released digitally track-by-track. Buying the album direct from the band is the way to hear the album in its entirety as intended with Classic Rock magazine calling it “bone crunching, heavy rock goodness”, featuring previous single ‘Ghost Of New York’ as one of their Tracks of The Week along with Powerplay Magazine being “really impressed by this album, 8/10.” and Emerging Rock Bands stating “All the songs are well written and crafted, with excellent musicianship throughout. 8.5/10.”
On the decision to release the album in physical form only for now, they explain, “In order for an artist to really have a chance to grow on streaming platforms they need to have a steady flow of new music to drip feed over several months to help maintain and grow audience engagement. On any given day around 120,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify, so within a month over 3 million songs have been released which means your music can become “old” in an instant.”
Swooping in from the vibrant cornucopia of the ever-expanding music scene in Brighton UK, the soaring 4 piece of Niall Kersey (vocals/guitar), James Innes (lead guitar), Sam Sayers (bass) and Loz Ford (drums) worked with multi-platinum award-winning producer Mike Krompass (Steven Tyler, Everybody Loves An Outlaw, Smash Mouth), recording at his state-of-the-art studio Base Culture with mastering duties expertly handled by Tim Turan (Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Pearl Jam).
Having shared stages with Kris Barras Band, Skindred, Hot Milk and Ricky Warwick the band pull inspiration from classic LA rock, Seattle's iconic grunge and historic UK rock scenes and have been likened to such household names as Queens of The Stone Age and Soundgarden. 2024 saw them play festivals in Station 18 Swansea, Pride Rock Festival in their hometown and the final Monsterfest in Scotland to rave reviews, this year brings their first European festival appearance at Summerside in Switzerland alongside Airbourne, Billy Idol and Royal Republic…it’s a safe bet that a flightful future is upon Stone Angels.
Scarborough rockers This House We Built release of their new single, “Addiction”. This is the first taste of their second album, ‘Get Out of The Rain’, set for release in Autumn 2025.
Following the success of their self-titled debut—hailed by Classic Rock’s Dave Ling as an “immensely promising quartet” and by Powerplay Magazines Rob Evans as “the best independent album I’ve heard this year”—the band is ready to hit the road with fresh material and even bigger energy.
Speaking about the new single, frontman Scott Wardell shares:
“Everyone’s addicted to something whether it’s Coffee, Adrenaline sports, Alcohol, Drugs (or buying guitars ;-)
The song came about at a jam with the band, we started to focus down on trying to get a real hook of a riff going, we’re all big fans of 80’s & 90’s metal and we wanted to encompass this in the song, as soon as we had jammed it a few times it was an obvious choice for the first single, we wanted something which was going to clout you in the face like an 12lb haddock!”
For the video, the band steered away from the obvious themes of alcohol and drugs, instead focusing on the adrenaline-fueled world of motorsport. Filmed at the NY500 café near Pickering, the video is packed with petrolhead vibes.
“There’s a real buzz at NY500, bikers, car lovers, it’s a proper community says, Bob, Helen & Rebecca, who run it.
We were very honoured to have been able to use the place for our video. It just felt right to capture that energy, instead of the usual ‘addiction’ themes. It’s all about passion, speed, and living for the rush.”
Speaking about the album, Scott adds “We’re very chuffed with the new material and we cannot wait for the mixes coming back from Dave Boothroyd at 6DB studios, York. the same guy who produced our self-titled first album
“Currently in the studio for the last two days as I type putting the cherries, sparkles, bells, and whistles on there.
Expect a similar vibe to the first album with a few surprises, we like to keep our music varied and different, i think that’s what people liked about the first album”
Pre-Orders will be open soon via Earache Distribution with a string of singles and videos throughout the rest of the festival season then followed by the Album.
Addiction is OUT NOW on all digital platforms https://earache.lnk.to/Addiction
Watch Video HERE
“Addiction” drops just ahead of the band’s appearance at this weekend’s Call of the Wild Festival. From there, the band embarks on a packed summer of festival dates and shows across the country:
This House We Built – 2025 Summer Tour Dates
May 31: Call of the Wild Festival, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln
June 7: Rock The Lakes, Lincoln
June 19: Supporting Gun (Acoustic Show), Nightrain, Bradford
June 21: Love Rocks Festival, Dorset
June 27: Wildfire Festival, Scotland
July 4–6, : SOS Festival, Whittles @ Tokyo, Oldham, Manchester
July 20, : Maid of Stone Festival, Maidstone, Kent
Sept 6: Rocking The Bowl Destination, Steelyard after party, Sheffield
Nov 7: Whitby Rocks, Whitby Pavilion
Nov 14: Rockmantic, Yardbirds, Grimsby
Nov 22: Homecoming Gig, Pickering War Memorial Hall, Pickering
Nov 27-29: Winterstorm Festival, Scotland
The band are Scott Wardell (vocals guitar), Andy Jackson (guitars vocals), Chris Mayes (drums vocals) and Wayne Dowkes White (bass)