LITTLE ANGELS To Release 'Big Bad & Back EP' In November, The Band's First New Material In 32 Years

Legendary U.K. hard rock band LITTLE ANGELS — featuring the full original lineup of vocalist Toby Jepson, guitarist Bruce Dickinson, keyboardist Jim Dickinson, bassist Mark Plunkett and drummer Mark Richardson — will release the "Big Bad & Back EP" on November 6. It will mark the group's first new material in 32 years.

"This was never in the plan," admit LITTLE ANGELS, but from the moment they announced their "Big Bad & Back" tour and tickets began flying out, the stars seemed to be aligning. That momentum has naturally led them to write and record their first new music since 1994.

"We would never make a new record unless we felt we still had something to say… and it turns out we do," the band added. "Toby started writing new ideas and while we were rehearsing the set for the tour, we started to jam around this new material, and it just felt great."

LITTLE ANGELS wanted to recapture the feeling of making rock records back in the day. That meant getting into a room together and playing live, capturing the true spirit of the band and the songs in the moment.

Following the band's reunion and rehearsals in their hometown of Scarborough, LITTLE ANGELS headed to Lincolnshire to record at Chapel Studios. After spending a very hot but magical week tracking the material, the finished recordings made their way across the Atlantic to Vancouver, a place that holds an important place in the band's history.

LITTLE ANGELS mixed their Number One album "Jam" at legendary Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, where BON JOVI recorded "Slippery When Wet" and AEROSMITH recorded and mixed "Permanent Vacation" and "Pump". Sadly, Little Mountain Studios is no longer there, but Mike Fraser, who recorded and mixed those AEROSMITH records, certainly is.

The band felt Fraser was the perfect choice to mix the new material, explaining: "We encouraged him to evoke the spirit of those great records that he mixed back in the day."

Jepson expands on the thinking behind the new material: "Lyrically, the challenge was always going to be, how do you take what LITTLE ANGELS represented back then and bring it into the modern world with guys that are now in their mid-50s?

"We discussed what the past meant to us and the penny dropped. This wasn't about youth anymore — of course not; it's about reflecting on where we had come from, and the kind of people we are now and all of a sudden, it made sense — this is about returning home."

"Big Bad & Back EP" track listing

01. All For One
02. Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now)
03. Small Town Boys
04. You Want Love
05. Raised To The Ground

The official lyric video for "Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now)" can be seen below.

LITTLE ANGELS will return to the stage this November for an ultra-rare U.K. tour.

The last time LITTLE ANGELS toured was in 2012, following their triumphant return at Download festival. Those shows came 18 years after their sold-out farewell gig at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1994.

Formed nearly 40 years ago in their hometown of Scarborough, LITTLE ANGELS emerged from the ashes of the NWOBHM movement, becoming one of the defining U.K. hard rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s. It was an era shaped by Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, RAW magazine and "The Friday Rock Show" — and lived in the queues at Shades Records, the sweat-soaked nights at Marquee Club, and the packed rock clubs that ignited every U.K. town and city in the pre-grunge years.

Across their career, LITTLE ANGELS built a fiercely loyal fanbase, scoring 11 U.K. Top 40 singles and four hit albums, including Jam, which reached No. 1 in 1993. Alongside their own sold-out headline tours, they shared stages with giants of the era including VAN HALEN, GUNS N' ROSES, FAITH NO MORE, ZZ TOP, AEROSMITH, Bryan Adams and BON JOVI.

In the early 1990s, LITTLE ANGELS were definitely Great Britain's most popular hair metal-band in their native country. Their music was well-played as well as cocky, and each of their three studio albums — "Don't Prey For Me" (1989),"Young Gods" (1991) and "Jam" (1993) — are classics of the genre. Nevertheless the band decided to split up in 1994. In later tears, Jepson gained attention as a member of GUN and FASTWAY, and by producing SAXON. In 2008, the members of LITTLE ANGELS met for the first time in years at their ex-drummer's funeral. Even under such tragic circumstances they rekindled their former friendship, and the band reunited to perform at Download festival 2012, followed by over a dozen shows before they took their final bow at Isle Of Wight festival in 2013.

Photo credit: Ray Burmiston (courtesy of Claire Lloyd / Central Press)