It seems like an eternity that Ed Hale and his bandmates in Transcendence have been in the studio "recording the new album", the follow up to Hale's last solo effort Ballad On Third Avenue. What started out as a few weeks in the studio in New York during the summer of 2012 turned into a lengthy affair that has seen the band recording in studios all over the country for almost three years and yielded over 45 songs recorded in all. 

What we know: Dying Van Gogh Records has confirmed that they will release four new Ed Hale albums over the next year containing songs from these sessions. The first album will be the most "accessibly pop" SO FOR REAL which will also yield the first single, "Summer Flowers", and will feature at least ten new songs plus bonus material including "Tell ya True", "Marsha's Sleeping", "The Prince of New York", "Honestly" and "Gimme Some Rock 'n' Roll" among others.  

They have also confirmed that the long rumored ANOTHER DAY IN THE APOCALYPSE -- considered "the most eclectic of the bunch" -- will be released as well, though it will be an EP rather than a full length.   

There is also confirmation that the long lost originally intended album from the sessions, BORN TO LOSE, will also most likely see a release date this year with the title track set to release as another of the first singles from the sessions to come out later this year. 

Finally, the label has also agreed to release a handful of outtakes from the sessions in an EP later this year entitled WELCOME TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

ED HALE's last album, the aforementioned Ballad On Third Avenue, blasted the singer to new heights of success spawning three Billboard Top 40 hit singles, "Scene in San Francisco", "New Orleans Dreams" and "I Walk Alone", all in the Adult Contemporary radio format, a big change from and stark contrast to the Alternative format the band was formally associated with.

All Ed Hale and Ed Hale and the Transcendence songs and albums are avail for download on iTunes, Amazon & wherever music is sold, along with Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music and other online radio stations. 

Followers of Howard Kirkpatrick