The Indigo Girls are dotting the I's and crossing the G's on their long-awaited follow-up to 1997's Shaming of the Sun, which will soon be finished but not released until after the duo begins its stint on the final Lilith Fair. According to producer John Reynolds, the girls "wanted to [create] a level between the new technology and retain everything they've done [in the past]" on the new material. "First and foremost, they're players," he says. "When they pick up the guitar and sing together, that's them."

Reynolds, who's produced material for Sinead O'Connor and Adam Ant, was originally only supposed to produce half of the new Indigo Girls album in a London studio, but recent sessions with producer Malcolm Burn (John Mellencamp, Better Than Ezra) didn't work out so Reynolds is back on board to finish up the record in Atlanta. Thus far, the duo has completed thirteen tracks for the still-untitled album. R&B artist Me'Shell NdegeOcello and Sinead O'Connor musician Claire Kenny contribute bass to several songs, while Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach and Reynolds collaborator Caroline Dale will add drums and strings respectively.

One song, "Faye Tucker," which was recorded during the original London sessions, was written about Karla Faye Tucker, who was executed by lethal injection in Texas on February 3, 1998, for the murders of her ex-boyfriend and his companion.

The album, due out Sept. 14, will begin the mixing process in two weeks and the Girls will begin their Lilith tour of duty on August 19 in Tinley Park, Ill.

BLAIR R. FISCHER
(May 27, 1999)