Black Penny Records, in co-operation with Timezone Records, is proud to release ‘Relentless’, Kris Pohlmann’s fifth studio album on March 7th 2025.
Recorded by veteran German blues-rock producer Martin Meinschäfer (Henrik Freischlader & Kai Strauss), ‘Relentless’ features 10 new, self-penned songs. With this album, awardwinning blues-rock artist, Kris Pohlmann, pushes the boundaries of the genre into album-oriented & classic rock.
“It’s been over six years since my last album ‘Feel Like Going Home’. Six long years. That wasn’t a conscious decision, but life really did get in the way. First came the good… the birth of my son Freddie, named after Freddie King of course! Then came the bad… Corona virus and all those cancelled tours. And then came the ugly… the loss of four family members, including my father, plus two serious slipped disc operations, resulting in the partial loss of feeling in my left index finger, which, for a guitarist is far from ideal. Over the past few years, life has been relentless.”
The late great John Lee Hooker sang “Blues is a healer, it can heal you, it healed me.” That might be a cliché, but the process of writing the new album proved to be very therapeutic for Kris Pohlmann.
“Losing my father really had an impact on me. I wrote the music for ‘Don’t Leave’ back in 2015, but it took his death in 2022 in order for me to be able to write the lyrics. Once I’d channeled that emotion, the song more-or-less wrote itself, which really helped me deal with that painful loss.”
Older, wiser and with a few more battles scars, this collection of songs, some dating back to 2009, is very personal, dealing with love, loss, disappointment, feeling overwhelmed, and fighting on anyway. Along with the more reflective, softer songs like ‘Don’t Leave’ and ‘Never Said Goodbye’, ‘Relentless’ contains some of Kris Pohlmann’s hardest rock songs to date. ‘Look At Me Now’, a song about overcoming setbacks and ‘Change Your Mind’ are sure to be live favourites. ‘It’s Only Love’, in classic rock territory, is arguably one of Kris Pohlmann’s best songs so far.
“This was one of those songs where I had the music, the riff and the structure of the song but only a rough idea for the chorus.
I had the song on my phone and started to write the lyrics whilst sitting on a plane back to Germany after visiting my mother in England. By the time I landed, the song was finished.”
‘It’s Only Love’ features the soulful backing vocals of Esther Nkongo & Florence Mankenda, who also feature on ‘Same Old Lies’, ‘Don’t Leave’ & ‘Feel Like The World’s Got The Better Of Me.’
‘Same Old Lies’ is a song, split into two distinct parts. The first part with its funky clean guitar rhythm, driven by the fabulous Stevie Wonder-esque keyboards of Gert-Jan Naus, suddenly moves into a heavy picked guitar part, complete with roaring solo, Fleetwood Mac style backing vocals, and Kris Pohlmann’s raspy, raw lead vocals.
Two songs, ‘Feel Like The World’s Got The Better Of Me’ and ‘Done Somebody Wrong’ both date back to 2009.
“I wrote those two songs after recording my first album ‘New Resolution’. I always wanted to record them, but they didn’t fit to my previous albums. I worked on them with the band during the ‘Relentless’ preparations and this time around they just felt right. Lyrically, I think ‘Feel Like The World…’ sums up the feeling of relentlessness perfectly.”
The instrumental track ‘Serenity’, consists of a quiet piano intro and a poignant guitar melody before developing into a soaring guitar solo.
The writing of the new album began with the Corona virus pandemic in early 2020. The first song that was completed was ‘Unreal’, which directly deals with the fall-out of the pandemic.
Featuring slide guitar, haunting vocals and Middle Eastern beats and samples, ‘Unreal’ is a hypnotic, driving rock song.
“I’m not a blues purist. I like to push the boundaries of what I can do, what I’m allowed to get away with, within the blues-rock genre. Artists can quickly become pigeon-holed in this industry and are criticised if they’re overly creative or experimental, but this album reflects where I am as an artist today. It’s rock music but with blues in its DNA.”
Twenty years on, since first playing Freddie King’s ‘Going Down’ at a blues session at Topos in Leverkusen, Germany, Kris Pohlmann is back.
Kris Pohlmann – lead vocals, backing vocals & guitars.
Jonas Bareiter – bass & backing vocals
Roman Midleja – drums, percussion & backing vocals.
Gert-Jan Naus – keyboards, Hammond & electric piano.
Esther Nkongo – backing vocals.
Florence Mankenda – backing vocals.
Martin Meinschäfer – additional guitars, percussion and keyboards.
Kris Pohlman – Relentless
Tracks
1. IT’S ONLY LOVE
2. SAME OLD LIES
3. CHANGE YOUR MIND
4. DON’T LEAVE
5. DONE SOMEBODY WRONG
6. UNREAL
7. FEEL LIKE THE WORLD’S GOT THE BETTER OF ME
8. LOOK AT ME NOW
9. NEVER SAID GOODBYE
10. SERENITY
It’s Only Love
Don’t Leave
Op dag van release vrijdag 7 maart optreden in zaal BLUES in Rhede net over de grens bij Aalten!!