Surprise! Bob Dylan to release new album in late April

It's strange how sometimes big news just sneaks up on you, soundless and without fanfare. And it's even more bizarre when it concerns big-name artists like Bob Dylan. So when Rolling Stone announced that Dylan will be releasing the followup to 2006's Modern Times in late April, the news came as a genuine surprise.

According to the Stone's David Fricke, Dylan was tapped  last year by La Vie en Rose director, Olivier Dahan, to record a song for his upcoming feature, My Own Love Song (starring Renée Zellweger). Inspired, Dylan ended up writing "Life Is Hard" for the film and continued to write with his road band and guests producing said surprise album.

Details are scarce, but what we do know is that the currently-untitled album has 10 songs and a decidedly "seductive border-café feel" thanks to the accordion on every track. Hopefully more will be unveiled in the coming weeks. After all, there are apparently only about seven of them, give or take, until the record is released.