Former Journey frontman Steve Perry is preparing a holiday record titled The Season, which is set to be released on November 5.
“I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs,” he says in a statement. “I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.” The album’s first single, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” is out now.
Perry said that recording the album was an emotional and cathartic experience. “When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’, as I was singing ‘Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree’ … I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung [with] mistletoe,” he said in a statement, “and then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window. I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there. I was a bit stunned. Back home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”
Perry took an extended from the music industry after leaving Journey in 1998, but he reemerged in 2018 with the solo LP Traces. He followed it up last year with Traces (Alternate Versions and Sketches), a stripped-down version of the album.
Though Perry has been back for a few years, he has yet to return to touring. “I’ve got some physical injuries from touring,” he continued. “It’s a tough thing, touring. People don’t realize. It’s like sports. I’m watching baseball these days and there’s injuries. People’s backs and necks start to go out. It’s a young man’s game, but I do miss it.”
The Season Tracklist:
1. “The Christmas Song”
2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
3. “Auld Lang Syne”
4. “Winter Wonderland”
5. “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”
6. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
7. “Silver Bells”
8. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
