Rick Springfield to release new album

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 30 (UPI) -- U.S. singer/songwriter Rick Springfield is to release a new studio album of original material this summer, Universal Music Enterprises said Friday.

"Venus in Overdrive" is due to drop July 29, the label said. It is the veteran artist's debut album on New Door Records/UMe and his first full-length new studio work of original material since 2003's "Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance."

The album was recorded in 32 days by Springfield and Matt Bissonette, Springfield's longtime bass player, the label said.

"It is an album about love in all its forms, and since Venus is the goddess of love, it's called 'Venus in Overdrive,'" Springfield said in a statement. "There is a lot of personal stuff in these songs but we have tried to craft them so they still have a universal voice. We are older, yet still teenagers. We have lost people we love and still love the people who are on our journey with us, we are angry at some of the crap in the world yet love our human failings."

As part of the promotional plan for the new album, Springfield is set to return to "General Hospital" in July as Dr. Noah Drake and his alter ego rocker Eli Love.