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Def Leppard has just released “Kick,” the lead single from the band’s upcoming album, Diamond Star Halo, which drops on May 27th. The new album — which gets its title from T. Rex‘s 1971 classic “Get It On (Bang A Gong)” — marks the band’s first since their 2015 self-titled set.

Diamond Star Halo features two songs with Americana star Alison Krauss — best known in rock circles for her recent work with Robert Plant. Also contributing is David Bowie‘s frequent pianist Mike Garston.

We caught up with Leppard frontman Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen and they spoke about the element of surprise in announcing Diamond Star Halo: “(Joe Elliott): We watched over the last few years how some people like to put a camera in the studio and broadcast on their website their daily recording sessions. So, by the time the record’s finished, everybody’s that watches already knows what its sounds like. There’s no impact, y’know? So we wanted to keep it nice and quiet like (David) Bowie did for the last couple of records — it’s just ‘boom!’ — big announcement. ‘Say ‘Oh, my God — where did that come from?’ (Phil Collen): And, like, the mystique. Back in the day when (Led) Zeppelin, yeah, or Bowie, or the (Rolling) Stones, they put something out it made it an event. It made it a bit special. And we definitely think this is, obviously. A two-and-a-half year break, the tour got cancelled, obviously Covid and everything else — it’s made it special. And we made out even more special because of that.”

In October 2015, Def Leppard released its 11th album, titled, Def Leppard, which peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.