"After the release of our debut 'Rise' in 2006, we hit the ground running for ten years. Produced six studio albums and were basically always on tour worldwide," guitarist Paul Mahon succinctly summarizes the career to date of the Northern Irish classic rockers The Answer, which he founded in 2000. On their penultimate album, "Solas" (2016), it seemed that the band had somewhat freed itself from its blues and classic rock roots. "Yeah, at that point it felt right. You're probably not really proud of an atmospheric album like that for another 20 years." However, it didn't fit the usual style of the Northern Irish, who have an irresistible frontman in singer Cormac Neeson, who always tries to carry the audience along - and it didn't sit right with Rory Gallagher fan Mahon, either.
"The fact that the album is the way it is, however, was ultimately not the reason for taking a step back from the usual routine of album, tour, album, tour. It simply had to be a longer break, in order to start again afterwards with just as much fun and energy. We were a bit worn out by the mid-teens. But that doesn't mean that now everything was set to the beginning. After all, we had successful albums and made a name for ourselves with them. We are now no longer in our early 20s, but in our forties, and give full throttle again." The new album "Sundowners", released on March 17 for St. Patrick's Day, nevertheless sounds a bit like a or like the debut.