Power to Play

Power to Play is the seventh studio album by English pop rock band McFly, released through BMG on 9 June 2023.^[1] The album was preceded by three singles: "Where Did All the Guitars Go?",^[2] "God of Rock & Roll",^[3] and "Honey I'm Home".

Power to Play
Studio album by McFly
Released	9 June 2023 (2023-06-09)
Genre	Pop rock, hard rock
Length	41:13
Label	BMG
Producer	Danny Jones Jason Perry
McFly chronology
Young Dumb Thrills (2020) Power to Play (2023)
Singles from Power to Play
"Where Did All the Guitars Go?" Released: 31 March 2023 "God of Rock & Roll" Released: 26 April 2023 "Honey I'm Home" Released: 9 June 2023

Background and recording

On 29 March 2023, McFly announced the album title and release date, following a series of cryptic social media posts.^[4][5] Describing the record, the band added: "At the start of the process, we all got together and said what we wanted this new album to be. We all had this one thing in common, and it was guitars. We love being on tour and playing live, and we hate this weird pressure where you don't get played on the radio if you have guitars in your songs [...] Guitars, honesty, energy, all these personality traits are what give us the band's identity. We want to reach that kid with long hair, get them excited about music and make them want to pick up a guitar and jump on their bed. That's what this record is about."^[2]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Where Did All the Guitars Go?" was released on 31 March 2023.^[2][6]

On 26 April 2023, McFly released the second single from Power to Play, "God of Rock & Roll".^[7]

On 8 June 2023, McFly appeared on The One Show and confirmed "Honey I'm Home" would be the third single from Power to Play. The official video was released on 9 June 2023.^[8]

Critical reception

Ben Devlin, reviewing for MusicOMH, rated the album 3.5/5 stars.^[9] Cheri Amour for The Arts Desk called Power to Play "a defiant return to [McFly's] rock'n'roll roots".^[10]

Track listing

Power to Play – Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Where Did All the Guitars Go?"	Tom Fletcher Danny Jones Harry Judd Dougie Poynter Jason Perry	4:00
2.	"Land of the Bees"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Steven Battelle Perry	4:03
3.	"Forever's Not Enough"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter James Bay Perry	4:41
4.	"God of Rock & Roll"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle	3:31
5.	"I'm Fine"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle Todd Dorigo Perry Rat Boy	3:48
6.	"Taking Back Tonight"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle	3:54
7.	"Honey I'm Home"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Perry Tom Piggot Smith[a]	4:09
8.	"Route 55"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle Mark Hoppus Rat Boy	3:44
9.	"Crash"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Dan Carter Dorigo	1:41
10.	"Make It Out Alive"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle Dorigo	3:17
11.	"Shine On"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle Perry	4:25
Total length:			41:13

Power to Play – Deluxe edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Broken by You" (featuring Fresno)	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Ross McNae Sam McTrusty Lucas Silveira	3:05
13.	"For the Kids"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Perry	3:30
14.	"Silence Is a Scary Sound"	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter	3:31
15.	"I'm Fine" (Acoustic)	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Battelle Dorigo Perry Rat Boy	3:43
16.	"Forever's Not Enough" (Acoustic)	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Bay Perry	4:09
17.	"Forever's Not Enough" (Edit)	Fletcher Jones Judd Poynter Bay Perry	3:36
Total length:			59:16

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an arranger.

Personnel

McFly

• Tom Fletcher – vocals, guitar
• Danny Jones – vocals, guitar, production
• Harry Judd – drums
• Dougie Poynter – vocals, bass guitar, guitar

Additional contributors

• Jason Perry – production (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17)
• Robin Schmidt – mastering
• Chris Sheldon – mixing, engineering
• Marek Deml – engineering
• Adam Marc – synthesizer (tracks 2, 3, 17)
• Rachel Lander – cello (track 7)
• Gary Pomerol – viola (track 7)
• Magnus Johnston – violin (track 7)
• Tom Piggot Smith – violin (track 7)

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Power to Play Chart (2023) Peak position Irish Albums (IRMA)[11] 51 Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[13] 2 UK Independent Albums (OCC)[14] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Power to Play Chart (2023) Position UK Cassette Albums (OCC)[15] 12

Release history

Release formats for Power to Play

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Various	9 June 2023	CD digital download LP CS streaming	BMG