The title of the new album from The Answer couldn’t really make their current mindset any clearer: Raise A Little Hell.

Ten years in – with all the ups and downs that entails – the band have made a brilliantly scuffed-up collection of songs, which amply demonstrate that the band’s creative fire is still burning bright.
Frontman Cormac Neeson runs us through a few of the record’s highlights:
Long Live The Renegades
“The first track on any record is such an important choice, so we didn’t take this decision lightly. It’s a case of start as you mean to go on, and ‘Long Live The Renegades’ sets the tone nicely. It actually begins with a count-in from our enthusiastic Spanish producer, Will Maya. He would count-in every take for the record in his strong Spanish accent. It would crack me up every time, so I got him to record a few count-ins with the beginning of the album in mind. Right from the off, this song brings a party atmosphere to a record that’s founded on good time vibes.”
Last Days Of Summer
“There’s so many songs out there about the start of the summer I thought we should redress the balance a bit. It reminds me of some of The Doors’ early material, coupled with the Desert Sessions stuff. It also allows the guys to really stretch their wings a bit and express themselves as individual musicians. We’ve been playing that one a lot on tour and it gets longer and crazier every time we play it.”
RED
“This is actually the first single to be released from the new album. It’s a pretty straight-up, good time rock ‘n’ roll song about a really weird flavour of wine and a girl with very red lips. The chorus is one of the catchiest on the record, and it’s a big hit at our live shows. I normally just let the audience sing the last chorus for me and everybody has a great time. We shot the video for this one in a deserted cotton mill in the middle of nowhere. We had to dress up in costumes designed by the Game Of Thrones people. It was just as well as it was pretty goddamn freezing in that old mill.”
I Am Cured
“This song kind of sums up the attitude of the entire record for me. It’s about soaking up a few major blows and coming out the other side stronger and more resilient. Musically, Paul gets his slide guitar hat on and really lets rip. I think Rory Gallagher himself would be proud of Paul’s playing on this one. It’s a great one to sing, you can really get some genuine emotion and soul into the performance.”
Raise A Little Hell
“You’ll probably have noticed this is the title track of the record. In actual fact the song existed before the title of the record ever did. The groove on this track is a powerful one. It’s quite slow and spacey which means all four members get to express themselves, and find little pockets in the song from which to let loose and show off a little bit. I do this thing in our live shows in the middle of this song where I get into the audience and invite them to raise a little hell with me. It always works great, but sometimes I get groped in some pretty weird places. The audience reaction to this tune has been really great and totally justifies its place as the album closer.”