When you’ve been in the game as long as Michael Monroe, you know a thing or two about music. Not content with shaping modern rock n’ roll with pioneers Hanoi Rocks, Michael has also had a successful solo career, releasing a series of albums that put the sleaze factor back into hard rock and then cranked things up a notch or two. His has been a journey full of highs and lows, and has rolled with every punch a fickle music industry could throw, but the one thing that remained constant is the fire burning inside which has fuelled a restless career and led to latest long player Outerstellar. Featuring a dozen tracks that sparkle with that Monroe magic, this is a record that’ll sate his army of fans and attract an array of new admirers.

If there were any doubts to Michael Monroe’s current vitality then they are blown out the water by opening shot ‘Rockin’ Horse’. An electrified stab of rock and roll that arrives with all guitars blazing, it’s the perfect mission statement that crackles with energy and bristles with attitude and suggests that this is no mere exercise in nostalgia. In fact, ‘Rockin’ Horse’ displays the kind of chutzpah that would put many younger bands to shame, its beat is totally infectious and will have all but the frail and infirm up and strutting their stuff. A track (like much of the album) that seems tailor made for the live environment and is sure to cause all sorts of mayhem when unleashed on his upcoming tour. It sets a chain of domino’s in motion with each track toppling over the other in a race to pour from your speakers.

Michael’s career has been characterised by a stubborn refusal to be constrained by genre divisions and Outstellar is indicative of this. Bouncing around like a silver ball inside a pinball machine, no two songs inhabit the same sonic space and that makes for a record that never sits still for long. It means that the Zeppelin-esque ‘Painless’ sits next to the high octane punky blast of ‘Newtro Bombs’ quite effortlessly. In lesser hands such a sonic shift would be jarring, yet Michael and band segue between the two seamlessly, and it is these shifting sands which make Outerstellar such an engaging listen: you never really know what the band will throw your way next, only that it will be delivered in the band’s own inimitable style.

Pulling all the various strands together, ‘One More Sunrise’ is an epic closer, kind of progressive insofar as it’s a song of several suites, only played with the kind of sleazy punk rock that Michael Monroe does so well. Vibrant and vital, Michael and band are back: pretenders to the throne be warned.

• Outerstellar is released via Silver Lining Music on 20th February 2026.
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Track List:

1. Rockin’ Horse

2. Shinola

3. Black Cadillac

4. When the Apocalypse Comes

5. Painless

6. Newtro Bombs

7. Disconnected

8. Precious

9. Pushin’ Me Back

10. Glitter & Dust

11. Rode To Ruin

12. One More Sunrise