Epic Records chairman and CEO L.A. Reid has promised that the followup to Fiona Apple's 2005 album Extraordinary Machine will hit stores sometime in early 2012. "Lots of good music coming from @Epic_Records in the next few weeks. Stay tuned music fans. Welcome back Fiona!," Reid wrote in a tweet on Sunday.

A new Apple album was rumored all through last year, but until now there had been no word from the label on an actual release. Apple confirmed that Epic had put her fourth record on hold at a concert in Los Angeles in November, explaining to fans that "I can't remember [how to play] any of my new songs because they've been done for a fucking year."

This is not the first time an Apple album has met with delays. The songwriter began work on Extraordinary Machine in 2003, but after label holdups, leaks and re-recordings, the disc was finally released in 2005 following a "Free Fiona" campaign led by her most hardcore fans.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES The 10 Best Zombie Movie Scenes
• 
  TV The Most WTF? Moments of 'Mad Men'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories