STONE ANGELS - UP IN SMOKE - THE NEW SINGLE

‘UP IN SMOKE’

THE NEW SINGLE

OUT NOW ON ALL PLATFORMS

Hard-grunge rockers Stone Angels release the poignant yet uplifting ‘Up In Smoke’ being the title track and final single of their highly acclaimed sophomore album which is available now on CD and vinyl direct from the band. Founding member and guitarist James Innes candidly reveals the traumatic inspiration of the song of which he sings lead vocal “On November 7th 2019 at approximately midday, a fire broke out in my house while I was inside. The trauma of watching my home, my safe space be destroyed by the blaze sent me into a depressive spiral, especially as the pandemic quickly followed.” Opening up on stumbling at first, but then endeavouring through the adversity, “It’s the closest that I have ever been to becoming an alcoholic. At times it felt like the only release I had, but I challenged myself to write about the ordeal rather than bottle it up or seek solace in the bottom of one. It was the most difficult song that I have written, but with the support of my wife, bandmates, family and friends I was able to heal. While it starts in the dark, you eventually end up seeing the light…it was my way of adding a silver lining to that smoke cloud.”

With the album armed to the teeth with a flurry of sledgehammer riffs, colossal choruses and unabashed wailing solos, and in a departure from the norm, the collection of 9 hard-hitting songs has been released digitally track-by-track. Buying the album direct from the band is the way to hear the album in its entirety as intended with Classic Rock magazine calling it “bone crunching, heavy rock goodness”, featuring previous single ‘Ghost Of New York’ as one of their Tracks of The Week along with Powerplay Magazine being “really impressed by this album, 8/10.” and Emerging Rock Bands stating “All the songs are well written and crafted, with excellent musicianship throughout. 8.5/10.”

On the decision to release the album in physical form only for now, they explain, “In order for an artist to really have a chance to grow on streaming platforms they need to have a steady flow of new music to drip feed over several months to help maintain and grow audience engagement. On any given day around 120,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify, so within a month over 3 million songs have been released which means your music can become “old” in an instant.”

Swooping in from the vibrant cornucopia of the ever-expanding music scene in Brighton UK, the soaring 4 piece of Niall Kersey (vocals/guitar), James Innes (lead guitar), Sam Sayers (bass) and Loz Ford (drums) worked with multi-platinum award-winning producer Mike Krompass (Steven Tyler, Everybody Loves An Outlaw, Smash Mouth), recording at his state-of-the-art studio Base Culture with mastering duties expertly handled by Tim Turan (Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Pearl Jam).

Having shared stages with Kris Barras Band, Skindred, Hot Milk and Ricky Warwick the band pull inspiration from classic LA rock, Seattle’s iconic grunge and historic UK rock scenes and have been likened to such household names as Queens of The Stone Age and Soundgarden. 2024 saw them play festivals in Station 18 Swansea, Pride Rock Festival in their hometown and the final Monsterfest in Scotland to rave reviews, this year brings their first European festival appearance at Summerside in Switzerland alongside Airbourne, Billy Idol and Royal Republic…it’s a safe bet that a flightful future is upon Stone Angels.