Why we should all be more Hynde: The Pretenders new album Relentless

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (Image: Redferns) The title says it all. Chrissie Hynde won’t stop – she can’t. Music is in her veins, her heart and soul. This album, co-written by Hynde and guitarist James Walbourne, is The Pretenders’ best work this century. It opens with Losing My Sense Of Taste, a sublime rocker that marries Chrissie’s unmistakable vocals – part swagger, part sensuality – to music redolent of Pearl Jam at their most melodic. Then comes A Love, a jangling mid-paced paean to the yearning promise, and fear, of falling for someone new. ‘I’m not scared of your dark eyes, they mesmerize and soothe,’ she sings. The Pretenders album Relentless (Image: AP) ‘But I don’t mess with burning coal, or anything I can’t control.’ Joys abound – the pained lead guitar break in Just Let It Go, the swirling strings (scored by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood) on the closing I Think About You Daily, a ballad soused in vulnerability and regrets. Let The Sun Come In is upbeat rock loaded with blissful hooks and optimism that borders on delusional. ‘We don’t have to get fat, we don’t have to get old,’ Chrissie assures us. ‘To live forever, that’s the plan.’ Immortality through music, no less. Don’t put it past her. Ohio-born Hynde is still as outspoken at 72 as she was as a protesting student at the Kent State shootings in 1970. But her lyrics have light and shade. Domestic Silence walks the thin dark line between love and hate, while psychedelic ballad Merry Widow finds her playfully noting, ‘He thought love was competitive like sport. He wasn’t my sort, so I left him at the port.’ This is a strong album, broader and richer than 2020’s Hate For Sale, and a fine addition to the legacy of Hynde and The Pretenders – the band she founded 45 years ago. Long may she carry on. Relentlessly.