Psy has pledged to release his seventh album — the first to be released in North America — by no later than September during an interview Monday.
“Latest September — I’ll be releasing a full album,” he told EntertainmentWise. “I can’t tell you who I’m going to be working with because its not confirmed yet. It’s going to be my seventh album in Korea and debut in North America.”
The announcement comes as Psy is winding up a British tour that included an appearance at the Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium along with Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, The Wanted, will.i.am and Jessie J, among other international stars.
While in Britain Psy connected with Brian May, lead guitarist of Queen, the legendary rock group that Psy credits with inspiring him to become a pop star. The pair brunched together in London earlier this week to discuss collaborating on a new song for his album, according to MTV News UK.
Psy is “a very thoughtful man and a significant artist,” May said. He expressed enthusiasm for their collaboration for which they have already agreed to work on a couple of ideas together.
The two apparently got together after Psy revealed in an interview during his British visit that Queen had been his biggest early influence after he watched their legendary 1986 concert at Wembley Stadium. May remarked that Psy surprised him with his “encyclopedic” knowledge about Queen.
In his interview with EntertainmentWise Psy also discussed how he divides his time between being a pop star and a family man with two children.
“Being a part of a family is amazing but as an artist living as a solo is kinda nice. Inside the door I’ve got to be a father but outside the door I get to be Psy. It’s confusing because the two characters are really different!”
Psy’s next major concert is scheduled for July 6 in Jakarta, Indonesia. His latest single “Gentleman”, released on April 13, has already tallied half a billion views on YouTube, a feat that took “Gangnam Style” about twice as long.
