Long-running Swedish melodic hard rockers, House Of Shakira, recently announced the upcoming release of their new studio album, XIT, on May 19. This new album follows the band's last studio album (and ninth overall), Radiocarbon in 2019 and the 25th Anniversary reissue of the band's debut album Lint in March 2022. XIT once again showcases why House Of Shakira have been one of the most consistently unique bands in the melodic hard rock genre over the course of their multi-decade career.

Pre-order/save XIT here, and watch a lyric video for the new single, "No Silver Lining", below.

House Of Shakira is known for having a distinct sound that stands out amongst other bands in the genre. They create melodic rock of the highest quality by mixing hard rock with several other musical styles. The vocals soar, the melodies rise, and the guitars bring it all back together. All these components make listening to the band's music a sensational experience. Because of the diversity of the music, House Of Shakira does not fall under your typical hard rock banner and in a world of musical clones, this is indeed a breath of fresh air. House Of Shakira are one of the most consistent and enjoyable melodic hard rock bands out there, as proved through their body of work over the decades.

Originally called The Station, House Of Shakira is a Swedish melodic hard rock band originally formed in Stockholm in 1991. After deciding to change their name at the behest of a Swedish record label, The Record Station, who thought the band's name was too close to their own, their new moniker came about in an interesting way. A German magazine that had reviewed their demo and noticed the band had no name ran a contest to have their readers pick the band's name. Geoff Noddings, a reader from England, entered the contest and suggested the name "House Of Shakira".

In 1991, newspapers in England had written about a boutique store in London called "The House of Shakira." Using the sale of clothes in the boutique as a cover, the store actually offered and sold a very different commodity, as it was in fact a bordello. The band loved the name and thought then, and still today, that the name is a nice metaphor for something that is not what it seems to be. That certainly fits in with their music not being what one would normally expect of 'melodic rock'.

XIT tracklisting:

"Something In The Water"
"No Silver Lining"
"Toxic Train"
"Your Exit"
"Too Much Love"
"The Messenger"
"Twisted Attitude"
"Nowhere Bound"
"Chimera"
"Hell Or Heaven"
"Xit"

"No Silver Lining" lyric video:

"Something In The Water" video:

Lineup:

Andreas Novak - Vocals
Mats Hallstensson - Guitars, Vocals
Anders Lundström - Guitars
Per Schelander - Bass, Vocals
Martin Larsson - Drums