Heart Of A Lion is the new album from Perfect Plan, due for release on 28th February 28th, via Frontiers Music Srl, and they’ve just released their latest single from it, ‘All Night’.
Lead singer Kent Hilli describes the new single and the story that inspired it: “’All Night’ is about the guy on the cover art of our album, a fictional story I made up with some personal experiences in the mix. He is a dreamer and a musician, he fails in life with everything he does, loses his job and then his love and girlfriend, gets dumped and gets depressed, fights his way back from being broke and then becomes a successful singer in a rock band.
“His girlfriend then wants him back but the betrayal from her was too big, so he rejects her and moves on, meets someone new, but can’t forget her and, after a few years, they meet again during one night”, he adds. “His girlfriend hasn’t been able to move on either and realized that she really loved him… It took them all night but finally they find forgiveness and reconciliation with a happy ending.”
It follows on swiftly from the title track’s single release, about which Hilli said: “’Heart Of A Lion’ is inspired by our Swedish football hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his story and career. A magnificent football player with a very inspiring story. I can relate to the struggles he had as a youth growing up in Sweden turning his setbacks and people talking him down to fuel for development and reaching higher. The passion, ambition and drive he has is truly one of a kind. He also has the Lion as his spirit animal which – together with his unique drive – inspired me for the lyrics and theme of the song”.
There appears to be something of a theme to the album, as the single and accompanying video ‘We Are Heroes’ out last year ran along similar lines.
“We Are Heroes” is a song that is about the everyday life heroes we humans can be,” said Hilli, continuing: Like nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers etc; but also about humans climbing their way up from everyday struggles, substance abuse, other addictions, mental health issues, and becoming a better version of themselves. At the same time, helping and inspiring others by stating themselves as an example of progress and recovery. When I wrote the lyrics, I was imagining myself in a conversation with God about our everyday struggles as humans. As humans we are facing different choices everyday but the choice to choose love will always be the best and the only way for us going forward.”
Talking about the album overall, he commented: “The new album is once again showcasing that we have developed and matured as a band in terms of songwriting and production. The melodies, riffs and hooks that we have created on this album are overall the best we’ve done so far. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished. Although our main influences like Survivor, Foreigner, Europe, Whitesnake are still shining through, there’s that unmistakable Perfect Plan sound that is the driving centre of it all. And I think we have strengthened that sound and identity.
“With Brace For Impact we wanted to discover a new heavier and in your face sound but on this album we are back to the sound of the first two albums, with more keyboards and bigger sound taking you back to the 80s with a modern touch and feel. On this album we once again teamed up with Mårten Eriksson, whom we worked with on Time For A Miracle, Hilli added. “Mårten brought his extreme talent to the songs both co-producing with us and also did he mixing. Mårtens long experience as both songwriter and producer in the pop-industry brought so much to the table and the end result is simply fantastic. If you liked our previous albums, you are gonna love Heart Of A Lion!”
Perfect Plan’s fourth studio album, Heart Of A Lion, marks the culmination of the band’s musical production to date. Over the course of their first trilogy of albums, All Rise, Time For A Miracle and Brace For Impact, the Swedes have quickly established themselves as a new gold standard in not only the Scandinavian melodic rock genre, but the melodic rock genre as a whole.
Kent Hilli is a one of a kind singer who’s gained a worldwide reputation. His class, range, tone and heartfelt expression caught the attention of his heroes Giant, who picked him to sing on their latest album Shifting Time, and has seen releasing two solo albums thus far with The Rumble in 2021, and Nothing Left To Lose in 2023. Completing the line up in Perfect Plan is FeaturingLeif Ehlin (Keyboards), Rolf Nordström (Guitar), Mats Byström (Bass) and Fredrik Forsberg (Drums).
Heart Of A Lion is said to be a powerful statement from the band offering the absolute best songwriting and production ever: a strong offering, with roots very well planted in the 80s AOR sound. Produced by the band in collaboration with Mårten Eriksson, the band was determined to top the musical results they reached until now and took a few months – from the end of 2024 – to come out with the right musical material.
Tracks featured on the album are: ‘Heart Of A Lion’, ‘Too Tough’, ‘We Are Heroes’, ‘All Night’, ‘Ready To Break’, ‘My Unsung Hero’, ‘Turn Up Your Radio’, ‘Lady Mysterious’, ‘One Touch’, ‘Danger On The Loose’ and ‘At Your Stone’.
Heart Of A Lion can be ordered here and you can watch the official videos for all singles released here at RAMzine.
