Sweet & Lynch detail Only To Rise

Michael Sweet and George Lynch have revealed details of their debut album which also features drummer Brian Tichy and bassist James LoMenzo.

Titled Only To Rise, Sweet & Lynch’s 12-track recording will launch on January 27 via Frontiers Music.

They previously issued a lyric video for September – a tribute to the victims of the 911 terror attacks in the US. Now they’ve released a two-track album teaser featuring The Wish and Dying Rose. And they say the latter could be a smash hit.

Sweet says: “When you make an album you hope there are those two or three tracks people gravitate to and everyone is in agreement over – and that’s what happened with this album.

“When I sent George all the songs he said to me, ‘That song Dying Rose is a smash that could cross all boundaries.’ Everybody seemed to really like it.”

Lynch adds: “I was just messing around with my Telecaster and I came up with this rock countryesque riff and Michael just put the most beautiful melody to it with a huge hook. It’s very Nashville in a way but it’s an emotional song too. It’s one of those songs you can’t just listen to once, you have to keep listening to it over and over. It’s so catchy.”

Along with the record’s release via their label, the band have launched a Pledgemusic page, offering those who pre-order exclusive behind the scenes content. They’ve also detailed album packages featuring caps, T-shirts, hoodies, lithographs and signed vinyl pressings.

Earlier this week, Sweet revealed that Stryper are planning a return to the studio in February to record the follow-up to 2013’s No More Hell To Pay. They hope to release the album later next year.

Only To Rise tracklist

  1. The Wish 2. Dying Rose 3. Love Stays 4. Time Will Tell 5. Rescue Me 6. Me Without You 7. Recover 8. Divine 9. September 10. Strength In Numbers 11. Hero-Zero 12. Only To Rise
Scott Munro
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Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.