Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale on Their Upcoming Album: ‘A Lot of Personal Stuff Came Out’

Halestorm just announced the release of their much-anticipated sophomore album, 'The Strange Case of...' Hitting stores on April 10, the album is heralded by a new single, 'Love Bites (So Do I),' along with three other songs featured on Halestorm's recent EP, 'Hello, It's Mz. Hyde.'

The Pennsylvania hard rock band is about to leave on a European tour alongside label mates Shinedown, and will also hit the road to support their new album on amajor U.S. trek alongside Godsmack and Staind. The dates get underway on April 13 in Augusta, Ga., and then continue through mid-May.

Just before the EP's release, Halestorm (Lzzy Hale and her brother, drummer Arejay Hale, bassist Josh Smith and guitarist Joe Hottinger) spoke visited with Noisecreep at the NAMM show in Anaheim, Calif.

What are your impressions, thus far, of the new record? Each time we speak to you, you all seem more excited.

Arejay: We love it more than anything. It feels more like us and all of the different sides of us.

Joe: It's more focused and closer to what we are on stage. And lyrically, we think we really zeroed in on Lzzy's personality.

Josh: Definitely. Lzzy was amazing throughout this whole thing; what she came up is just incredible.

Lzzy: The guys gave me carte blanche to write about whatever I wanted, so a lot of personal stuff came out. Open up those floodgates! We've been living two feet from each other forever now, so a lot has happened - and I will add that my guys, musically, totally blew me away.

Arejay: We recorded at Sunset Sound in L.A., in the "Van Halen Room" as they call it, where all those amazing records were done. That helped, too.

Lzzy: Definitely. As far as the words, to me it was learning to have both sides of my brain coexist: being onstage and showing my teeth, and then the emotional stuff I have been suppressing. So let's just say I have been unleashing.

Joe: We've never listened to anything of our own as much as we have this record.

Josh: Right. And it's the most aggressive Halestorm you've ever heard.

Lzzy: And the most intimate. The ultimate Halestorm mix.

Arejay: We went in with way more confidence than on our first record. Plus, we have three years of constant touring behind us, which helped, too.

Joe: People always tell us they want our studio records to capture the live feeling of Halestorm. This does that. We threw everything at this record and I also love how much deeper Lzzy's words are.

Lzzy: Living this life on the road, hearing people's stories, it totally affected this record. The music reflects what our life as a band has become. And a lot of that has to do with our fans. They push us, they inspire us – a lot of the love we feel from our fans is in these songs. We're very much in touch with our fans just like they are with us and that's a big part of this record.

Lzzy added that she enjoyed singing on the hit '90s Duran Duran song, 'Come Undone,' with Mike Portnoy's new outfit, Adrenaline Mob's upcoming album. "I've sung on other people's records before, but this was special. Mike is such a sweetheart, we got to know him on the 2010 Uproar tour, and I was very flattered to be asked to sing."

Halestorm's 'The Strange Case of...' will hit stores on April 6 via Atlantic Records. Check out its full track listing below:

01. Love Bites (So Do I)

02. Mz. Hyde

03. I Miss The Misery

04. Freak Like Me

05. Beautiful With You

06. In Your Room

07. Break In

08. Rock Show

09. Daughters Of Darkness

10. You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing

11. American Boys

12. Here's To Us

Halestorm on tour with Godsmack and Staind, except *

April

13 Augusta, GA James Brown Arena

15 Estero, FL Germain Arena

17 New Orleans, LA UNO Lakefront Arena

18 Lafayette, LA Cajundome

21 Lubbock, TX Lone Star Amphitheatre

22 Belton, TX Bell County Expo Center

24 Beaumont, TX Ford Pavilion

25 Laredo, TX Laredo Energy Arena

28 Tampa, FL St. Petersburg Times Forum*

May

1 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheatre

2 San Antonio, TX Illusions Theatre / Alamodome

6 Evansville, IN Ford Center

9 Battle Creek, MI Kellogg Arena

11 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena

12 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena

15 Syracuse, NY SRC Arena & Event Center

16 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena

18 Flint, MI Machine Shop*