Patrick Wolf Is The Bachelor

Patrick Wolf will release his fourth album, The Bachelor, on June 1 in the U.K. through Bloody Chamber Music.

It was originally supposed to be a double album called Battle, but Wolf (real name Patrick Apps) has split it into two with different titles and release dates. The second half, The Conqueror, doesn't have a release date yet, but Wolf plans to release both albums in one package by 2010.

The Bachelor contains spoken-word parts from actress Tilda Swinton (Burn After Reading, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button), who guests as the "voice of hope." Wolf slipped the actress one of his CDs at the premiere for last year's Julia, in which Swinton starred, and the two later collaborated on the album.

The Bachelor also features guest appearances from folk musician Eliza Carthy, classical musician Thomas Bloch, former Atari Teenage Riot member Alec Empire and electronic musician Matthew Herbert. The first single, "Vulture," will be released in March.

You can hear a "megamix" from the Battle albums on Wolf's MySpace page.

Wolf released his Lycanthropy debut album in 2003. It was followed by Wind In The Wires in 2005 and the breakthrough The Magic Position in 2007.

Wolf has these shows lined up:

March 8 Colchester, England @ Colchester Arts Centre
March 9 Gloucester, England @ Guildhall
March 10 Cambridge, England @ Junction
March 12 London, England @ Heaven

Here are the songs on The Bachelor:

"Kriegsspiel (Wargames)"
"Hard Times"
"Oblivion"
"The Bachelor"
"Damaris"
"Thickets"
"Count Of Casualty"
"Who Will?"
"Vulture"
"Blackdown"
"The Sun Is Often Out"
"Theseus"
"Battle"
"The Messenger"