Fastball readying fifth album

After taking a five year break from their last album Keep Your Wig On, FASTBALL are returning with their fifth album Little White Lies on April 14, 2009 via MRI/RED Distribution.

"We haven't released a record since 2004, so I'm excited for our fans to hear the new stuff and the fact that we have a new President also gives me reason to smile," says vocalist/guitarist Miles Zuniga.

Known for the intricate and very distinctive harmonies of Zuniga and Tony Scalzo (who also adds bass, keyboards, guitar to his band duties) and the Texas-drenched rhythms of drummer Joey Shuffield, Fastball had a massive hit with their Grammy-nominated platinum second album All the Pain Money Can Buy that featured the hits "The Way", "Fire Escape" and "Out of My Head". Not a band to rest on their laurels, the band soldiered on and released two critically-hailed follow-ups.

From the propulsive, driving rhythms of the album opener "All I Was Looking For Was You" to the pop sway of the title track to the sultry, heated fandango of "Angelie", Little White Lies sees Fastball moving forward and becoming almost a whole new band.

"Miles and I have really fine-tuned our writing styles to come up with super fun songs that go a little deeper musically than we've gone before," explains Scalzo. "I believe it's only the tip of the iceberg too. It's seems to have opened a door to future creativity."

In the years since their last album, the barometer of celebrity swung from public respect to invasion of privacy, something that doesn't quite sit well with Zuniga.

"It used to be cool to be a celebrity. I used to want to be famous," he says, recalling their chart-topping history.

This opinion of the evolution of pop culture infiltrates many of the songs on Little White Lies, especially the Tejano-spiced "The Malcontent (The Modern World)" in which Scalzo and Zuniga sing "I'm tired of living modern world with pretty boys and plastic girls."

He adds, "It used to be that famous people were famous for a good reason, but that's not the way now."

Little White Lies was produced by Miles Zuniga and C.J. Eiriksson (Blue October, Jack's Mannequin) and mixed by Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie) and will be released on April 14, 2009.