Dublin - November, 2004

When Horslips released their first single - Johnny's Wedding - on St Patrick's Day in 1972 and followed it up with the album Happy To Meet, Sorry To Part that same Christmas they turned rock music in Ireland on its head. The band's fusion of traditional Irish tunes with original lyrics and driving rock rhythms served them well through no fewer than twelve albums of which the best known are probably The Táin, The Book Of Invasions and The Man Who Built America.

By the time they finished touring in October 1980 the band - Eamon Carr, Barry Devlin, John Fean, Jim Lockhart and Charles O' Connor - had entertained an entire generation of Irish kids. But it wasn't just the ballrooms of Ireland that rocked to the Dancehall Sweethearts. Horslips toured ceaselessly in Britain, Europe and America, their last US tour taking place in the spring of 1980. Today all albums continue to sell well and the band's anthemic single Dearg Doom is known to a whole generation of clubbers who weren't even thought of when Horslips was in its pomp.

So why did the band go back into studio in Grouse Lodge this summer and put down fifteen tracks for Rollback the first new Horslips release in almost 30 years?

Jim Lockhart, Horslips flautist and keyboards player explains. "It's kind of an unplugged album. We were always pretty loud and on the nail, cos we were hugely into performance. But when we were writing these songs all those years ago, they all had other possibilities, other ways they might have developed, other musical paths they might have taken. And we've explored those this time round. So for instance, The Man Who Built America has reverted to the waltz time in which it was originally written, Trouble is a skinny blues lurch.. and so on."

Charles O' Connor, the band's fiddle, mandolin and concertina player says: "It's been extraordinarily exciting for us to get back together and revisit and re explore these tunes. We hope that comes across on the album.."

Rollback is set for release on November 26 and features 15 tracks + Bonus 4 Track Enhanced CD + 16 Page Booklet. The DVD Return Of The Dancehall Sweethearts - a history of the band through its entire career from 1970 to 1980 - is due for release early next year.

www.Horslips.ie