Former Republic of Loose frontman Mik Pyro has announced his debut solo album, Exit Pyro – out July 14.

In a video posted to his Facebook, he spoke about his character during the era of Republic of Loose:

"Pyro was always a ridiculous, haphazardly created character. It was a cartoon character I suppose, which suited my personality at the time."

Before their split in 2014, Republic of Loose were widely considered one of the most successful Irish rock bands after U2 and Bell X1. Included among their star-studded fan club was Damien Dempsey, Sinéad O'Connor, Bono, Gary Lightbody, Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, and Irvine Welsh.

Pyro – who's also known for his work with the Dublin Blues Cartel – is now working on a series of acoustic-based songs, which he will release as part of Exit Pyro.

"I'm writing these acoustic songs, which I've been writing my whole life but I never got to use them in a public release because everything was more pop and R&B," he said. "I've always had these songs lying around but I saw this as an opportunity to release them, along with some new material."