Europe sign with UDR and confirm 2015 UK tour

Europe will enter the studio this month to begin recording sessions for their first album on new label UDR Records.

The band’s 10th album is being recorded in Stockholm, Sweden and is due in early 2015. It will be backed by a UK and Ireland co-headling tour with Black Star Riders.

Frontman Joey Tempest says: “We’re really excited to be working with the people at UDR – very credible label and I am impressed with their work building a future and a solid foundation for their Artists.”

Production on the new material will be handled by Dave Cobb, who has previously worked with Rival Sons.

Tempest adds: “He is one of few producers out there who is saving rock ‘n’ roll. When we first heard Pressure And Time by Rival Sons, we just went, ‘Who the hell produced this stuff?’ It’s got tons of heart and soul, it’s cocky, it’s got that swagger, it’s alive and real.

“That’s the journey we’re on with Europe, trying to dig deeper to find more soulful expressions and play straight from the core. So we’re extremely excited to bring this guy into our team.”

UDR president Ulrike Rudolph says: “We are always looking to expand the label’s stable of bands with quality, not quantity, and Europe represent the finest in supremely written hard rock music.

“They are a group who refuse to rest on their past and continue to grow as artists and musicians, so we are absolutely delighted they have come to us.”

Europe’s last album was 2012’s Bag Of Bones.

Europe & Black Star Riders 2015 UK and Ireland tour

Mar 02: Olympia Theatre, Dublin

Mar 03: Ulster Hall, Belfast

Mar 05: O2 ABC, Glasgow

Mar 06: O2 ABC, Glasgow

Mar 07: O2 Academy, Newcastle

Mar 08: O2 Academy, Leeds

Mar 10: Rock City, Nottingham

Mar 11: Corn Exchange, Cambridge

Mar 13: Academy, Manchester

Mar 14: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

Mar 15: University, Exeter

Mar 16: O2 Academy, Bristol

Mar 18: O2 Academy, Bournemouth

Mar 19: UEA, Norwich

Mar 20: O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

Mar 21: O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.