A Place to Be 2017

It has been 12 years since New York metal act Life of Agony released its last album, 2005’s Broken Valley. That’s a lifetime in the music industry, although in the timeline of Life of Agony, that’s pretty much on schedule. After all, eight years passed between when it released 1997’s Soul Searching Sun and Broken Valley, but nonetheless, fans have wondered if the quartet of singer Mina Caputo, bassist Alan Robert, guitarist Joey Z and drummer Sal Abruscato would ever return to the studio.

In the summer of 2016 I lived in Ibiza. I played 50 sunsets on the Spanish island and across the Mediterranean in Italy. When the season was over, reflecting on this busy time, I decided that my favourite place wasn’t so much one physical place, it was more a feeling that occurred at a certain time of day. My favourite place was anywhere, just before sunset, especially if there was a clear view of the sun setting into the sea.

In the first decade of her post-Go-Go's solo career, Belinda Carlisle delivered six albums as a mainstream pop artist, notching hits with songs like "Mad About You" and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth." Following 1996's A Woman and a Man, Carlisle largely abandoned her solo pursuits, participating in a handful of Go-Go's reunions and battling a drug addiction that lasted until 2005. Newfound sobriety and the influence of living in France yielded 2007's Voila, an unexpectedly high-quality collection of French pop songs and classic chansons which she sang entirely in French. Now, with another decade in the books, the California native returns with yet another personal passion project in 2017's Wilder Shores.