LAWRENCE GOWAN On STYX's Upcoming Studio Album 'Circling From Above': 'We Think It's Very Strong'

During a question-and-answer session aboard this year's Rock Legends Cruise in February 2025, STYX singer Lawrence Gowan spoke about the band's upcoming album, "Circling From Above", which is tentatively due this spring. Regarding the inspiration for the follow-up to "Crash Of The Crown" , which came out in 2021, Gowan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, quite honestly, since [STYX producer and multi-instrumentalist] Will [Evankovich] joined the band — Will was the producer at first and a co-writer, and that really inspired us to start making new music again. Also, the boring part is that the music industry itself, it kind of righted itself in a lot of ways. There was a resurgence in interest in vinyl records, and the idea of an album being a work of art instead of, as we all are on our phones, flipping through things every ten seconds, instead you have that experience of listening to a piece of music that takes about forty minutes and you begin to get this kind of what some people refer to as a theater of the mind going. And that's really what inspired us to do that. So, as a writer, Will is also very, very, extremely strong. And he was able to kind of focus on what we should do on new records. So [2017's] 'The Mission' was very successful. 'Crash Of The Crown', as we mention in every show so modestly, that it went to Number One in the Billboard Rock Album chart. That's a big mark for us, the fact that that happened, and it gave us the confidence to keep making records. It's part of the lifeblood of what keeps the band alive. Anyway, I think you're gonna enjoy it — well, I know you're gonna enjoy this new record. We think it's very strong."

Asked when fans can expect the new STYX album, Gowan said: "End of May."

In a separate interview with Boomerocity, Gowan stated about "Circling From Above": "You don't wanna say too much about it. All I can say is we'll be rehearsing a couple of more songs from it today, this afternoon, in our soundcheck, and if I can judge by our crew's reaction to it and the people that listened to it in the last few days, I'd say that there's a good percentage of people out there that are going to enjoy it. There I've said it."

Last December, STYX guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw told Ultimate Classic Rock about the band's upcoming LP: "I guess we just stumbled upon a way of doing it. Just writing, you don't have to write the whole thing at one time. Like Will and I, we've been writing songs together for you know for 10, 15 years. And when we get one that we like, Will's a lot more organized than I am, but he'll put it on a hard drive. And so we had amassed a whole bunch of songs. Suddenly, we got hot writing new stuff. And then we went back and looked at some other things and said these things all it all goes together. Now we're working on [the album] and finishing it. And it's exciting."

Shaw described the upcoming STYX release as "a great rock album" and added that "real-life experiences" were the lyrical inspiration for many of the new tracks.

"You're writing about your experiences in your life and things that you love and enjoy, or things that were hard to go through and that sort of thing," he said. "So you're just really just writing a book in little sections like that. And we've got a pretty good one going here."

The legendary rockers wrote "Crash Of The Crown" pre-pandemic and recorded it during the trying times of the coronavirus crisis.

Forbes described "Crash Of The Crown" as one in which "its sweeping, dramatic and anthemic sound immediately recalls the band's classic works of the 1970s and early 1980s." It was the follow-up to "The Mission", STYX's first LP in 14 years, which critics also had called "a masterpiece".

STYX — James "JY" Young (lead vocals, guitars),Tommy Shaw (lead vocals, guitars),Chuck Panozzo (bass, vocals),Todd Sucherman (drums, percussion),Lawrence Gowan (lead vocals, keyboards),Will Evankovich (mandolin, guitars),Terry Gowan (bass, guitar, vocals) — and Kevin Cronin, the iconic voice and writer behind REO SPEEDWAGON's greatest hits, recently wrapped up hugely successful sold-out residencies at The Venetian Theatre. For the first time in their 50-plus-year career in Las Vegas, Nevada, STYX performed 1977's "The Grand Illusion" in its entirety, while REO SPEEDWAGON performed 1980's "Hi Infidelity" in its entirety.

Due to the overwhelming response from both residencies, STYX and the KEVIN CRONIN BAND announced last month that they're bringing these special album shows for the first time, plus their hits, to the amphitheaters and arenas later this summer as part of their "Brotherhood Of Rock" tour.

The "Brotherhood Of Rock" tour, along with special guest Don Felder (a former lead guitarist of THE EAGLES),will kick off May 28 in Greenville, South Carolina at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

Photo credit: Jason Powell