Not only have they already performed acoustic sets at Arena Birmingham before the likes of Eagles, Shinedown and Alter Bridge, Empyre’s acoustic prowess has seen them:
- Winning Classic Rock Magazine’s “Track of the Week” twice, for Only Way Out (Piano Acoustic) and Stone (Acoustic)
- Featuring in Guitar World’s “Sick Riffs” series with Drive (Acoustic)
- Performing for ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris’ “Under The Apple Tree” Sessions
- Teaming up with Yamaha Music Europe
The Other Side totals 9 tracks, bringing together all the acoustic singles released so far along with a further 4 songs including a stirring piano based version of My Bad and a radio edit of Only Way Out with additional orchestral parts and mixed by Grammy winning producer Mike Exeter.
Lead Singer Henrik Steenholdt comments: “The first time Did and I ever met we sat down with acoustic guitars, our first band was an acoustic rock covers band playing some of our favourite tracks from the “MTV Unplugged” era, and at least half the songs on Self Aware were conceived on an acoustic guitar.
This is the grassroots of Empyre and our homage to “MTV Unplugged” which is also reflected in the first two videos we released, Drive and Cut To The Core.
The affinity with our songs in an acoustic format only grew when the first opportunities to play festivals were often offers to play an acoustic set on a side stage, and therefore as people got to discover us they discovered our acoustic versions.
To us The Other Side feels like a perfect pairing to Self Aware”.Empyre continue to stand out as an inimitable musical force and this is truly reflected in their approach to forging ahead with content and releases despite the ongoing global pandemic and remaining focused and ambitious pursuing their goal of playing Europe’s biggest rock festivals.
2020 saw the band release 6 singles, 14 music videos, perform live streams, headlining and selling out numerous socially distanced shows, winning Classic Rock Magazine’s “Track of the Week” two times and teaming up with Yamaha and Guitar World.
2021 has already seen them return to the recording studio to start on the second electric album following on from the success of 2019’s Self Aware debut. See all their recent highlights here: https://www.empyre.co.uk/epk
Pre-order ‘The Other Side’ CD: https://www.empyre.co.uk/shop
Track listing:
Only Way Out (Piano Acoustic)
Drive (Acoustic)
Too Close (Acoustic)
Cut To The Core (Acoustic)
Just A Ride (Acoustic)
My Bad (Piano Acoustic)
Stone (Acoustic)
Homegrown (Live Acoustic)
Only Way Out (Radio Edit)
All the Empyre acoustic videos:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTrFtAG885UNDz2bgS4KX7yCtBT-GUhhF
Empyre on Bob Harris “Under The Apple Tree” Sessions – https://youtu.be/kQxdEk9PZJo
UK Tour Dates
Sun 2nd May – Sound Bay Festival, Swansea
Sun 25th July – Steelhouse Festival, Wales
Sat 31st July – SavFest – Nottingham
Sat 28th Aug – Aylesbury ‘Live in the Park’
Sun 12th Sep – Rockin’ The Bowl, Sheffield
Fri 13th Nov – HRH ABC, Great Yarmouth
26-28th Nov – WinterStorm, Troon, Scotland
4-6th Dec – Planet Rockstock, Trecco Bay, Wales
Quotes:
“Everything about Empyre’s beguiling music is colossal sounding” – Planet Rock
“Empyre … sound slick, vast and like the music was written with the help of an architectural blueprint for an arena” – Kerrang!
“Empyre have become masters at taking the formula for British atmospheric rock and infusing it with their arena-ready signature sound” – Guitar World
“No stage is too big for these guys” – BBC Introducing
Empyre is: Henrik Steenholdt – vocals & rhythm guitar, Did Coles – lead guitar, Grant Hockley – bass – Elliot Bale – drums
Links
Website: www.empyre.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EMPYRE
YouTube: www.youtube.com/empyrerock
Instagram: www.instagram.com/empyrerock
Streaming services: https://awal.lnk.to/selfaware