Steve Perry Releases ‘No Erasin” Video, Confirms Comeback Album ‘Traces’
Steve Perry has released a video for his comeback song “No Erasin’,” and confirmed that his first solo album in nearly 25 years. Traces will be released on Oct. 5 via Fantasy, a division of Concord Music.
The former Journey singer had been the subject of speculation for several days after launching a new website and social media channels, teasing the lyric “I know it’s been a long time comin’…” which opens the new song.
You can watch the video below, and further down read images containing the lyrics, which Perry tweeted later.
“Years ago, I disappeared,” Perry wrote in a statement. “There were many reasons, but mainly … my love for music had suddenly left me. I knew that simply stopping, was what I had to do. If music was ever to return to my heart, then and only then I would figure out what to do. If not … so be it, for I had already lived the dream of dreams. Many years passed. One day, I began sketching some musical ideas with the creative freedom that I was the only one who would ever hear them. One song led to many. My love for music had returned.
“Then another beautiful thing happened. I found love. My precious Kellie gave me a life I never knew I had. I lost her December of 2012. I now deeply understand the meaning of: ‘It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.’ May of 2015, I began recording. These songs are special to me. I respectfully ask that you please listen to them, and whatever they make you feel, I thank you for listening.”
Fantasy also confirmed the album was co-produced by Perry and Thom Flowers, who has previously worked with Danny Elfman and Lagwagon, among others. The label described Traces as Perry's "most vulnerable and honest recording to date, balancing tremendous loss with enduring hope and beauty. The album is a collection of nine original tracks that encompass the spectrum of human emotion, and also features a beautifully re-imagined cover of the Beatles’ ‘I Need You.’ It is the work of an artist who has reconnected with his music in a new way.”
Traces is available for pre-order now, with the track listing confirmed as below. The album can be purchased on CD, digital download and 180g vinyl. Additional signed and limited-edition bundles featuring posters, clothing and collectable items such as socks and drum heads are on sale via Perry's official site.
A deluxe edition of the album, available for purchase on CD and vinyl, adds five additional tracks, as noted below. While running times are not included, one of the bonus songs appears to be a potential epic of some sort. "October in New York" is listed as taking up the whole of the double album's Side C, with the four other tracks sharing Side D.
Steve Perry – ‘Traces’ Track Listing
1. “No Erasin’”
2. “We’re Still Here”
3. “Most Of All”
4. “No More Cryin’”
5. “In The Rain”
6. “Sun Shines Gray”
7. “You Belong To Me”
8. “Easy To Love”
9. “I Need You”
10. “We Fly”
11. "October in New York" (deluxe edition only)
12. "Angel Eyes" (deluxe edition only)
13. "Call On Me" (deluxe edition only)
14. "Could We Be Somethin’ Again" (deluxe edition only)
15. "Blue Jays Fly" (deluxe edition only)