Interview with Dave Dalone & Album Review: Force Majeure by H.E.A.T.

Album Review by Taylor Cameron

Interview by Shannon Wilk

The Swedish rockers, H.E.A.T, are back with their highly anticipated new album, Force Majeure, an 80s influenced record with anthemic chorus’ and distorted guitars. This is the band’s first release with Kenny Leckremo since 2010; welcoming him back in 2020 after the departure of vocalist Erik Gronwall. The band go back to their roots on this one, keeping the 80s rock sound alive and well, while still creating an original sound.

The album opens up with the first single “Back To The Rhythm”. Starting off the album with a bang, the band implements their classic melodic sound brilliantly. From Leckremos soaring vocals to Dave Dalones tasty guitar licks, the song sets high expectations for what’s to come. “Nationwide”, an anthemic track, is up next, keeping the listeners attention with its high energy and catchy chorus that you will gladly have stuck in your head for days.

Adding flair to their classic sound, H.E.A.T expand their horizons on this record. From the Dokken-esque track “Harder to Breath”, “One Of Us”, a classic 80s sounding piano ballad, to the heavier Dio sounding “Demon Eyes”, that you’ll want to raise your horns to, the quintet know how to keep things interesting. Each song brings something new to the table.

“Paramount” is the most unique song on the album, falling in at number nine on the tracklist. The heavy rockers introduce a more diverse sound on this one, delivering something we haven’t heard from the band before. Opening with a Europe sounding intro and having the melody be impressively played by Dalone, harmonizing beautifully with the vocals, the band successfully step out of their comfort zone on this one. They’ve created something that is diverse and interesting, keeping the listeners on their toes.

Strong from start to finish, H.E.A.T have created another brilliant album. Leckremo has returned better than ever, giving the album the fire it needed. Including something for everyone to love, both old and new fans alike will not be disappointed. A new era has commenced for the band and you do not want to miss it.

Rockin’ Interviews – How does it feel to write and tour with Kenny Leckremo who was H.E.A.T.’s original frontman whom you worked with about 10 years ago?

Dave Dalone – It feels like 10 years ago. It was very natural because we know each other so well already. He’s a guy with a lot of energy and that’s pretty valuable when writing music. Before Kenny came back, it was Jona Tee and I writing most of the music and it’s nice to now have a third person. 

Rockin’ Interviews – Being from the U.S., I don’t get many opportunities to see H.E.A.T. and I was lucky enough to see Erik with H.E.A.T. and now you with H.E.A.T. on the Monsters of Rock Cruise. It’s absolutely badass to see this amazing band continue to grow and evolve the way you guys have. How do you feel this album represents the growth the band has seen the past couple years?

Dave Dalone – I think it represents our growth very well. Our last album, H.E.A.T. II, felt like all the pieces fell together. Up until that point we had been working on getting full artistic control and this album has basically been a follow up to that. The more you do it, the better you become so it’s a pretty smooth process for us nowadays.

Rockin’ Interviews – What was the writing and recording process of this album like, were you guys able to work together in the same room the old school way?

Dave Dalone – We recorded it during the pandemic but we went on as usual because we live close to each other except for Kenny but he was in Sweden so it wasn’t really affected. We didn’t have the restrictions in Sweden like many other countries did. 

Rockin’ Interviews – How did you guys come up with the concept H.E.A.T. city?

Dave Dalone – Someone put the idea out there and we just expanded on it. We wanted to create something that felt very us. We wanted to paint a picture for people. 

Rockin’ Interviews – When we’re recording this interview, Force Majeure comes out in 2 days, what do you think fans will love about this album? Is there something you think some people wont like?

Dave Dalone – I think people who already love H.E.A.T. will like or even love it. This isn’t an album that will disappoint, or at least I hope. It’s a classic H.E.A.T. album. 

Rockin’ Interviews – If this album was released in 1989, what song do you think would be a number 1 hit?

Dave Dalone – That’s a tough one. Perhaps “Wings Of An Aeroplane” or “Tainted Blood” – it’s got a classic heavy metal vibe. 

Rockin’ Interviews – What song from the album are you most excited to play live that you haven’t yet?

Dave Dalone – For me that would be “Tainted Blood”, it’s a guitar-driven song but it’s got a lot of groove. We’ve tried it at some soundchecks already and it sounds massive. 

Rockin’ Interviews – Totally, you guys have always been very good at translating your live, Arena rock sound into your studio albums. How do you guys go about doing that?

Dave Dalone – For me personally, I’ve been obsessed with the ‘80s since I was 11 years old so I’ve been doing it for so long. It gets easier the more you do it. As a young guy, I listened to tons of albums from that era so it feels like our music and we know it like the back of our hand. 

Rockin’ Interviews – What song do you think fans will be most surprised by? Anything that sounds different from traditional H.E.A.T.?

Dave Dalone – There are a couple. “Demon Eyes”, it’s a lot faster than most of our music. And another one is “Paramount” which is a bit out of our style. 

Rockin’ Interviews – What is your favorite moment from the creation of this album?

Dave Dalone – The guitar solo sessions of course!