Heads will roll, sparks will fly. Before taking it apart, let’s raise the curtain… It’s show time.

These words end a poetic prologue welcoming listeners in the glam and grain of Gene Dante’s new album “DL / UX”. The vocal, shimmering guitar underneath has an aesthetic somewhere between the introductions to Alice Cooper’s “Welcome to My Nightmare”, Jane’s Addiction’s “Ritual De Lo Habitual” and the Killers’ “Sam’s Town”. They allow you to relax in something big, complete and strong: “Showtime” leads to the great rock boom of “She’s Outside”.

“I knew I wanted a prologue, a rise, a climax, a conclusion and an epilogue,” Dante told the Herald. “I look at the albums that I love and they were designed that way. They had a flow like that.

The Boston-based Dante thought he might be done with the albums. It’s been a good decade since Dante and his band, Future Starlets, released their last LP. They had released a series of strong singles, but no full version.

“Honestly, I thought the album was dead because with streaming you can choose your adventure instead of dropping a 12 inch piece of vinyl and going from start to finish,” Dante said before. a “DL / UX” output broadcast. Saturday at the Magic Room in Norwood.

But looking at the tracks he had – the “Showtime” opener, closer to “No Road Home” and 13 more diverse songs – he couldn’t turn down the chance to build a long player with an epic rise and fall. “DL / UX” delves into what makes Dante and his Starlets so wonderful: hook-laden glam rock powered by Dante’s huge, warm voice. But he also wades through heady waters.

The lyrics to “High Time” show the door to the manipulators; the music swims in pure power pop. “Little Belle” celebrates a guardian angel through a ballad rooted in both the Berlin of David Bowie and Lou Reed. “Pigs in the Powder Room” is punk and disco, very happy to wallow in this strange space between sneer and boogie.

“It’s easy to write about something happy in a happy song, but where’s the surprise in that,” Dante said. “It’s the same with sadness. But you can’t do 15 songs of the same thing. You have to surprise people one way or another.

A 15 song album can seem like an indulgence. Now, being forgiving is part of Dante’s charm – after all, his touchstones are Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Preseley, Alice Cooper. But here, indulgence does not come at the expense of economics and introspection. Dante, band and producer John Eye created “DL / UX” for a long time. The choices have been worked out.

“When I went to see John and the band, I said we were going to be able to listen to this record from start to finish and be proud of every song,” Dante said. “We called it the ‘no grimace’ policy. If we were to come across a part and say, “Ah, we really need to tighten that up,” then we would have to go back and start over. “

Dante has spent so much time playing – you may have seen him as a hockey coach in Bauer’s overwhelming “Be proud to play like a girl” commercial or alongside Chris Evans on the Apple show. TV “Defending Jacob” – it’s great to see him come back to rock with so much bravado, craftsmanship and contemplation. And it’s great to hear her create an introduction welcoming us back to her distinctive aesthetic.

For details and tickets go to genedante.com/home.