Albert Hammond, Jr.'s Second Solo Album

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. will give fans still anxiously awaiting news of the band's fourth album at least somewhat of a fix when he releases his sophomore solo effort, Como Te Llama?, on July 8 via RCA.

The 13-track album is the follow-up to 2006's Yours To Keep solo debut. Como Te Llama?, which is Spanish for "What's Your Name," was recorded over five weeks at New York City's Electric Lady Studios. It was co-produced by the artist, engineer Gus Oberg (Ryan Adams, Bloc Party) and Hammond Jr.'s drummer/Strokes drum technician Matt Romano. Como Te Llama? sees the return of guitarist Marc Philippe Eskenazi (The Mooney Suzuki), bassist Josh Lattanzi (Ben Kweller) and Romano. It also includes a guest appearance by Sean Lennon, who plays piano on the instrumental "Spooky Couch." Lead single "GfC" can be previewed on Hammond, Jr.'s MySpace page.

"I'm really proud of the power this record has," Hammond, Jr. told NME.com. "I feel like my melodies and song arrangements have matured. Lyrically, I tried to have the words flow out more freely and not try to write one song but many. I would just sing and then arrange the words afterwards."

While the guitarist hasn't yet announced any dates in support of the record, he wrote in a March 20 entry on his MySpace blog that he wanted to "tour all year and come to each and everyone's town." If his touring behind Yours To Keep is any indication, he may be just as busy this time around. He toured for nine months after that record was released, and played 128 gigs.

Hammond, Jr. and friend Kevin Johnson have completed a script that's an adaptation of Charles Bukowski's novel, Pulp. The son of '70s pop star Albert Hammond says it has the backing of Bukowski's widow Linda, and he and Johnson are trying to find a home for it.

Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture composed the music to A Kind Of Dream, a half-hour black and white film written and directed by actor and casting agent Danny Velez. You can view preview clips for the film on its MySpace page.

It looks like The Strokes may soon start recording their fourth album. In a message on Fraiture's section of The Strokes' website, he wrote that the band want to head into the studio. "We just need to iron out a few technical kinks…"

Here are the tracks on Como Te Llama?:

"Bargain Of A Century"
"In My Room"
"Lisa"
"GfC"
"The Boss Americana"
"Rocket"
"Victory At Monterey"
"You Wont Be Fooled By This"
"Spooky Couch"
"Borrowed Time"
"G Up"
"Miss Myrtle"
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