Ann Wilson will release her new album, Fierce Bliss, on April 29 via Silver Lining Music. In a new interview with Antihero she talks about the record, personal creativity and inspiration, songwriting, and more. An excerpt follows...

Mark Dean (Antihero): I'm thinking specifically about the role of record companies. Obviously, when you first started out, record companies had more of a say on what you did and when you did, rather than how it is today.

Ann Wilson: "Yeah. I remember in the early days, we used to be so jealous of Led Zeppelin because they had this manager that made it possible for them to never even communicate with a record company until their album was done and finished and handed over. And that's what everyone wanted to do because we were getting a lot of input from the record company day by day. "Are you writing and recording any hit singles?" And that was really frustrating to have them in a way. Nowadays, it's not like that anymore really. I'm with a German label now called Silver Lining. And they're very supportive of what I want to do. And they never come in and knock on the door and say, "Let us hear what you're doing." They just don't do that."

Read the full interview at Antihero.

One of the premier hard rock vocalists of all-time, Wilson smashed boundaries with her band Heart, the 8-times Platinum, 35 million-plus selling Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trailblazers who formed in 1973. During a decades-long career, Wilson rode the roller coaster of fame, fortune and madness, learning both joyous and hard, hard lessons along the way. Fast forward to Summer 2020, and a meeting with legendary veteran ‘artist’s lawyer’ Brian Rohan provided the catalyst for Fierce Bliss’s creation.

Fierce Bliss is not just an album for fans of Ann Wilson and Heart, it is an album for everyone seeking a lavish ticket out of the sharp edges of an increasingly fraught society. Fierce Bliss also marks perhaps the first time in her illustrious career that Ann Wilson has truly felt the wind in her wings, something which might seem a strange statement given her pioneering history.

To cap it all, the album artwork comes from the mind and hands of celebrated fantasy artist Roger Dean, who aside from his work in fantasy art is also renowned for his YES sleeve artwork.

“I love Relayer (Gates of Delirium) painted with almost no colour and other works with equal power and equally restricted pallets, however, sometimes I just love to let go. With Fierce Bliss there is a strong psychedelic current flowing throughout, something that I love but don’t do often enough. Mike Inns helped to keep the psychedelic presence intense especially with the Parrots and made sure that we got this over the line intact. It was great fun working on this.” - Roger Dean

Fierce Bliss is available to pre-order here on CD Casebound Book (deluxe package), Vinyl and Digital formats.

Fierce Bliss tracklisting:

"Greed"
"Black Wing"
"Bridge Of Sighs"
"Fighten for Life"
"Love Of My Life" (feat. Vince Gill)
"Missionary Man"
"Gladiator"
"Forget Her"
"A Moment In Heaven"
"Angel’s Blues" *
"As The World Turns"

* Available on CD and digital formats only

"Love Of My Life" lyric video:

"A Moment In Heaven" lyric video:

"Missionary Man":

"Greed" video:

Lineup:

Ann Wilson - Vocals
Tom Bukovac - Guitar
Tony Lucido - Bass
Sean T Lane - Drums, Percussion & Bike
Gordon Mote - Keyboards
Tim Lauer - Keyboards

- Produced by Ann Wilson and Tom Bukovac
- “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues” produced by Ann Wilson and Warren Haynes
- Mixed by Chuck Ainlay
- Recorded by Chuck Ainlay at Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL and Soundstage, Nashville, TN
- “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues” recorded by Joe Paterno at Power Station, Waterford, CT
- "Black Wing" recorded by Sean Walker at Uberbeatz, Lynnwood, WA
- Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, NJ
- Executive Producer Jim Zumwalt

Musicians who appear on Fierce Bliss:

Vocals - Vince Gill on “Love of My Life”
Lead Guitar - Kenny Wayne Shepherd on “Bridge of Sighs” and “Missionary Man”
Guitar - Warren Haynes on “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues”
Guitar - Tyler Boley on “Black Wing”
Keyboards - Danny Louis on “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues”
Keyboards - Dan Walker on “Black Wing”
Bass - Jorgen Carlsson on “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues”
Bass - Andy Stoller on “Black Wing”
Drums - Matt Abts on “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues”
Choir - The Rev Nathan Young Singers on “Missionary Man”

(Photo courtesy of Ann Wilson)