Pitchfork

Frank Black is going down South. Billboard.com reports that the Pixies frontman is releasing Honeycomb on July 19 through Back Porch Records, a roots, rock, and Americana imprint of EMI. The album was produced by Jon Tiven, who has helmed the boards for B.B. King, Wilson Pickett, and Black on several "Headache" B-sides. Recording took place at Dan Penn's Better Songs and Gardens studio in Nashville in four days last April.

Honeycomb features work from eminent studio musicians such as keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Steve Cropper, and drummer Billy Block. The album features 11 original songs from Black, including "Atom in My Heart", "Another Velvet Nightmare" (co-written with Reid Paley), "Go Find Your Saint", "Violet", "I Burn Today", and "My Life Is in Storage". The three covers that round out the record are Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day", Roy Bennett and Sid Tepper's "Song of the Shrimp"-- which was made popular by Elvis Presley in the film Girls, Girls, Girls-- and Dan Penn and Chips Moman's "Dark End of the Street".

Speaking about the album, Black said, "I can say without a doubt that the Honeycomb session was the most moving and mind-blowing experience I've ever had in my musical career. Steve Cropper co-wrote the first rock'n'roll song that I ever sang in front of an audience ("In The Midnight Hour"). It was a pure pleasure to come full circle with Mr. Cropper." No plans for Black touring behind Honeycomb have been set. He is performing with the reunited Pixies through North America and Europe, with an appearance at the Sasquatch Festival on May 28.