Black Star Riders share Pay Dirt as the second single from upcoming Wrong Side Of Paradise album

By Paul Brannigan
( Classic Rock )
last updated

Listen to Black Star Riders' new hymn to rock 'n' roll, Pay Dirt

Black Star Riders, 2022
(Image credit: Ross Halfin)

Black Star Riders have released new single Pay Dirt as the second preview of their forthcoming Wrong Side Of Paradise album.

Speaking about the single, BSR frontman Ricky Warwick comments, “Rock’n’Roll is my lover, friend, enemy, ally, religion and saviour. Rock’n’Roll is my life. [BSR guitarist] Christian Martucci and the late Todd Youth wrote the music for this. And when I heard it, it stank with defiance and attitude. It didn’t need changing, just some words to echo the power of the chords. It’s an ode to Rock’n’Roll… But also a dig at those that don’t learn their art and don’t play from the heart!”

Listen to Pay Dirt below:

Pay Dirt follows on from Better Than Saturday Night as the second taste of the new Black Star Riders album: set for release on January 20, 2023, Wrong Side Of Paradise was recorded in the autumn of 2021 at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 and Toochtoon Sound in Redmond, Oregon with producer Jay Ruston.   

Talking about the album, Ricky Warwick says, “I am very proud of this record, Black Star Riders' fifth release and the first with our new and exciting relationship with Earache Records. As with all BSR albums, Wrong Side Of Paradise is an anthemic statement of intent,  driven by ferocious guitars and thundering drums. I can only write about my own personal experiences, my families, my friends and how I see a world that is unraveling and changing faster than we can comprehend. That being said, I’m a firm believer in the power of positivity, something that echoes throughout this album.”

Black Star Riders will celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band with a UK tour in February 2023: the tour will see founding guitarist, and Thin Lizzy legend, Scott Gorham return to the band.

Black Star Riders will play:

Feb 13: Nottingham, Rock City
Feb 15: Norwich, UEA
Feb 16: Ipswich, Corn Exchange
Feb 17: Manchester, O2 Ritz 
Feb 18: Wolverhampton, KK's Steel Mill
Feb 19: Leeds, O2 Academy
Feb 21: Cardiff, Tramshed
Feb 22: Bristol, O2 Academy
Feb 23: Glasgow, SWG3
Feb 24: Newcastle, O2 City Hall 
Feb 26: London, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.