Founding Hollies singer Allan Clarke returns with new solo album, 'Resurgence,' 20 years after retiring

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BMGAbout 20 years after retiring from the music business, Hollies lead singer Allan Clarke has returned with a new solo album called Resurgence.

The 10-track collection, which features mostly new original songs, is available now as a digital download and via streaming services. Among the tunes is one called “Long Cool Woman’s Back in Town,” which the 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer wrote as a sequel to the 1972 Hollies smash “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress.”

Resurgence began coming together in 2017. Clarke had started writing some poems that year, one of which was turned into a song by Los Angeles-based roots rocker Carla Olson that inspired Allan to record his own version of the tune.

Motivated to write songs again, Clarke sought the help of his son Toby, who suggested he learn how to use the GarageBand program. Before long, Allan was amassing enough tunes to put a new album together. He enlisted a one-time collaborator, composer and engineer Frances Haines, as a produce and arranger on the project.

Clarke admits that one reason he retired from music was that he felt he wasn’t able to sing Hollies songs anymore, but he explains that “what I should have said [when fan asked ‘Why don’t you go back to singing?’] was that there may be a time when I’ll be able to sing, because I’ll be doing songs that maybe I’ll write myself.”

Allan has posted a series of videos in which he discusses making Resurgence on his official YouTube channel.

Clarke says of the album, “It’s given me a new lease of life in doing something I thought I’d never do again.”

Here’s the Resurgence track list:

“Journey of Regret”
“You Broke My Heart”
“The Door Is Slowly Closing”
“I’ll Just Keep On Walking”
“I’m Only Sleeping”
“Heart of Stone”
“I Don’t Know the Reason”
“Don’t Let Me Down”
“Long Cool Woman’s Back in Town”
“I’m Comin’ Home”

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