THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Nonesuch Records will release k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang's Sing it Loud on April 12, 2011. Produced by lang and Joe Pisapia, it is the award-winning singer-songwriter's first record made entirely with a band of her own since the pair of albums with the Reclines that launched her groundbreaking career over 20 years ago.

This collection of songs reflects the organic, collaborative nature of the sessions, which took place at Pisapia's Middletree Studios in Nashville. Many of the songs were recorded live in the studio and that energy is palpable. The lead single "I Confess" is one of three songs lang penned with keyboardist Daniel Clarke and Joshua Grange, who plays baritone guitar and dobro. In addition to the original material, Sing it Loud includes a striking version of Talking Heads' "Heaven." Pisapia, who plays numerous instruments and serves as the band's musical director, contributed the title track and co-wrote five songs with lang. Bassist Lex Price (Mindy Smith, Peter Bradley Adams) and drummer/percussionist Fred Eltringham (The Wallflowers) complete the lineup.

Beginning today, fans that sign up for lang's newsletter at www.kdlang.com will receive a free download of "Perfect Word," a track from the new album. Pre-orders of Sing it Loud begin on February 7 on kdlang.com and nonesuch.com and include a manuscript lyric sheet, a limited number of which will be signed by k.d. (The version of the album available from those sites includes four additional tracks.)

Sing it Loud is lang's first studio album since 2008's Watershed, which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. In 2010, she marked the 25th anniversary of her recording debut with Recollection, a career retrospective. Earlier today, lang's "Hallelujah Vancouver Winter 2010" was nominated for a Juno Award for "Single of the Year." The track is her interpretation of the Leonard Cohen classic and was recorded live at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. To date, lang has won eight Juno awards. She has also been honored with four GRAMMY® awards, a BRIT, an AMA, a VMA, and four awards from GLAAD. In 1996, she received Canada's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. She has appeared alongside such musical luminaries as Tony Bennett, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Loretta Lynn. lang has also contributed to numerous soundtracks, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Happy Feet, and has appeared in such films as Salmonberries, The Black Dahlia, and Eye of the Beholder.

"She's the best singer of her generation," said Tony Bennett, who has frequently toured with lang since their 2002 Wonderful World duets album. She is renowned for her live shows, prompting the New York Times' Stephen Holden to observe: "Few singers command such perfection of pitch. Her voice, at once beautiful and unadorned and softened with a veil of smoke, invariably hits the middle of a note and remains there."

The track listing for Sing it Loud is as follows:

1. I Confess

2. A Sleep with No Dreaming

3. The Water's Edge

4. Perfect Word

5. Sugar Buzz

6. Sing it Loud

7. Inglewood

8. Habit of Mind

9. Heaven

10. Sorrow Nevermore