Tom Waits Readies New Album for Fall Release
Expected to allude to "mule in a boat," "old man in a shed" for 43rd time

"Because there's nothing quite like fresh material," enigmatic singer/songwriter Tom Waits is currently at work on a new full-length for Anti Records, according to a report from the record label's website. Titled Real Gone, and slated for release sometime in the fall, the disc is presently being recorded at an old Mississippi schoolhouse, and is described by the label as consisting of a set of songs in a "primal rhythmic blues" vein.

Like 2002's Blood Money and Alice, Real Gone was written and recorded by Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan, and boasts an expansive list of contributors. Among the many musicians backing Waits up on the new record will be former Canned Heat bassist and longtime Waits contributor Larry Taylor on bass and guitar, NYC experimental guitarist Marc Ribot (who last worked with Waits on 1985's Rain Dogs, Primus members Les Claypool and Brain Manita, Shotgun Messiah guitarist Harry Cody, and Waits' son Casey on percussion and (omg) turntables. The disc is also reportedly being engineered by Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, U2, R.E.M., Iggy Pop) and self-produced by Waits and Brennan.

"I'm feelin' good about it all," Waits says in a statement on the Anti Records website. "Songs about politics, rats, war, hangings, dancing, automobiles, pirates, farms, the carnival and sinning. Mama, liquor, trains and death. In other words, the same 'ol dirty business!"

Tom Waits: http://www.officialtomwaits.com
Anti: http://www.anti.com