VIXEN Shares Long-Awaited New Single 'Red'

VIXEN has released a brand new single called "Red". The official music video for the track, which was directed by Drew Johnston and Vicente Cordero and edited by Ryan Conion, can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Robert Miguel of Uvalde Radio Rocks, VIXEN drummer Roxy Petrucci stated about "Red": "It's pretty energetic. I think it's a good mix of the old '80s mixing with fresh, new 2023 VIXEN."

Regarding how the new VIXEN song came together, Roxy said: "We actually worked on it with Fred Coury from CINDERELLA. He's quite the songwriter and he's a producer and he writes jingles for soundtracks and things like that. So we hooked up with him and he had the song and he presented it to us. And we said, 'Okay, let's take that and let's own it.' And that's what we did. And it came out killer. It's a good representation of this new VIXEN. So I think fans are gonna dig it. I mean, we certainly do. We owned it, we feel good about it and we're gonna throw it out there and, yeah, see if it sticks."

Last December, VIXEN singer Lorraine Lewis explained to Max Davallo of "Sonic Dorms" about why she and her bandmates had yet to release their new single after previously saying it would arrive in the summer of 2022. "I kind of — I didn't make a mistake; I was just excited at the beginning of summer," she said. "'Cause I had already gone in and done my vocals, laid down my vocals for a new song for VIXEN. And I don't know — in 'Lorraine world,' if it's just 'Lorraine world,' it's happening fast. But it's not 'Lorraine world,' it's 'VIXEN world,' and so there's a lot of elements that had to come together. So it has been mixed," she revealed. "It is now being mastered. I just heard it last week. I'm excited."

At the time, Lewis also said that VIXEN's current lineup — in which she is joined by Petrucci, bassist Julia Lage and guitarist Britt Lightning (a.k.a. Brittany Denaro) — had also been working on "other stuff" in recent months. "We were in Boston. There was a song that I had written… God, I would love to tell titles, but I'm just gonna play it safe and say, no, I'm not gonna tell you the title. But we worked on it and laid it down," she said. "It sounds really good as well. I don't know exactly what the plan is for that. Julia brought something to the band that we all really liked, and I'm hoping that we'll record that. Britt and I worked on a lot of music together; we've got a lot of stuff ready to go. Roxy works all the time on music. So it's just a matter of time.

"We have become a pretty well-oiled machine live up to this point," she continued. "Adding Julia as well — she's been with us since January [of 2022], I believe, [or] February. So we're a machine on stage. So now we just need to transcend that into the studio and with new music. But I'm feeling really good about what's going on for sure."

Petrucci is the only remaining member of VIXEN's "classic" lineup.

In June 2022, Lewis was asked by SW Wall Interviews if she and her VIXEN bandmates began working on new music relatively quickly after she officially joined the group in early 2019. Lorraine said: "Right away. I would say within six months we were in the studio. We were in a rehearsal studio in the Valley and we were working on ideas. And then Britt and I, during COVID, we were working together just on Zoom, at least trying, 'cause there's a weird feedback thing. But we wrote quite a few songs together. And so there's another song that we're hoping to get recorded very soon, and that is possibly going to be with [producer] Toby Wright. So we've got things cooking. But it didn't take long. When we were in the rehearsal studio together, working on music too, and this is when Share [Ross, longtime VIXEN bassist] was with us, [it was] just super natural. They'd lay down something and I would just come in with something over it and Share would add a vocal line and a melody line and words. And it was just easy peasy. We haven't had that luxury to do it with Julia yet, but I'm sure it will happen. And I know Julia is a prolific songwriter herself, so I think that we'll get some new music going with her as well."

A year and a half year ago, Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from VIXEN. Her replacement is Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8, 2022 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

When Ross made the news of her departure public at the aforementioned pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert, she told the crowd that "life got a little complicated" and that "something has to give," resulting to her decision to "step away from VIXEN for a while." She then introduced her "amazing" replacement and urged the VIXEN fans to "graciously" open their arms and welcome Lage to the group. At that point, Julia and her new bandmates launched into the track "Streets In Paradise" and played the last couple of songs of the set with Ross watching the proceedings from the side of the stage.

During a February 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Julia spoke about how she ended up hooking up with VIXEN, saying: "Share is taking a hiatus. She wants to do her thing [and focus on her real estate career]. She's kicking ass. She's gonna be writing and playing forever — I mean, she's a badass artist and bass player, singer, everything, songwriter. So I got the invitation, and I'm, like, 'Yeah, of course I'm gonna join. Of course.'"

Asked how the other members of VIXEN reached out to her about joining the band, Julia said: "Well, actually, funnily enough, before Britt joined VIXEN, me and her tried to put together a band, right when she moved to L.A. But that didn't work out, and then she joined VIXEN, and I was super happy for her. So, fast forward, she actually called me a few months ago and she told me about the scenario, and I was, like, 'Yeah. I would love [to do it]. I mean, it's an honor for me to join VIXEN.' So that happened. And that was it. It was that quick. And I was just, 'Okay. Sign me in. Where can I go?' [Laughs]"

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, Ross and Denaro vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988),"Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest full-length release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

Photo credit: Mark Weiss