Third Eye BlindThird Eye Blind are gearing up for a busy year with the release of not one, but two new albums.

“Ursa Major,” the band’s first full-length album since 2003’s “Out of the Vein,” will hit stores June 23, while a companion record, “Ursa Minor,” will be released sometime over the next year.

In an interview with Billboard, guitarist Tony Fredianelli revealed that completing the albums was a long labour of love for the band.

“Both of these records to me are very strong, especially the first one, because we really bled for them,” Fredianelli said. “It’s almost like we started over as a new band and went through the amount of time it takes to get a record that has a lot of meaning to it.

“I can sit down and write a song that might be pretty good, but to really get those songs that are magical, you don’t really control that. They’re kind of coming from another place.”

Third Eye Blind, who also released a three-song EP called “Red Star” last year, gave fans a preview of the “Ursa” material at the South by Southwest festival in March.

Billboard reports that the band is also playing several new tracks on their current U.S. tour, which has dates scheduled through June 18 in San Jose, CA.

Third Eye Blind shot to fame in 1997 with the release of their self-titled debut album, which spawned the radio hits “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How It’s Gonna Be.” The album, which went on to sell six million copies, was followed by 1999’s “Blue.”






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