Fiction Plane to support Sting...

Rock quartet Fiction Plane is wrapping work on an EP that will constitute its first new music since the 2003 release of its MCA debut, "Everything Will Never Be OK." Dubbed "Bitter Forces and Lame Race Horses," the set is led by the track "American Standard," which was mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent (U2, Oasis, Bjork).

The EP, which will also feature the cuts "Tolerate," "Patience" and "The Author Lies," will be released in the United Kingdom by Everybody's Records, an imprint of Island. A North American release has yet to be nailed down.

Drummer Pete Wilhoit tells Billboard.com Fiction Plane is also deep into the writing of its sophomore album. "We've actually been writing the whole last year," he says. "We've got about 25 new tunes. We're continuing to write and sort out when that's officially going to be recorded. Most likely, some of the songs on the EP will make it to the album."

In the meantime, Fiction Plane has signed on to open seven of the last eight North American dates on Sting's Broken Music tour, from May 2 in Reading, Pa., through May 11 in Providence, R.I. These will be the band's first performances here in a year. "It's been way too long since we've played the States," Wilhoit admits.

A show at New York's Mercury Lounge the following night is also in the works, as is an appearance at Brazil's Festival Mada in late May.

Billboard