British hard rock legends DEEP PURPLE will release their 19th studio album via earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group, on the following dates:

Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Spain: April 26
UK, France, Benelux, Poland, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark: April 29
North America, Italy: April 30
Sweden: May 1

A short audio teaser for the CD is available below.

After various songwriting sessions in Europe, the band recorded and mixed the album in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, PETER GABRIEL, ALICE COOPER, KANSAS). The CD is expected to contain 13 tracks, including "Out Of Hand", "Hell To Pay", "Weirdistan", "Uncommon Man" and "Above And Beyond". The latter song references the band's late keyboard player, Jon Lord, in the lyric "Souls having touched are forever entwined."

According to earMUSIC, the CD is "rumored to be the perfect match from the original spirit of '70s PURPLE, and a fresh and modern production."

Regarding the album title, Gillan offered the following cryptic comment to Classic Rock: "There's a big question mark over the name at the moment. And possibly an exclamation mark as well. You can read what you like into what I've just said. All will become clear — as mud — later on. That's all I'm allowed to say. The question mark and the exclamation mark might get you intrigued."

earMUSIC will reveal details about the new DEEP PURPLE album in real time as soon as they will become available on a dedicated web site where all band members will also be able to post and interact with the fans: www.deeppurple2013.com.

DEEP PURPLE's 18th studio album, "Rapture of the Deep", was released in November 2005. It was the fourth studio CD from DEEP PURPLE since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.

"Rapture of the Deep" was produced by Mike Bradford, who also worked on the band's previous release, 2003's "Bananas".