"Warm and dirty."

That's how Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles describe their fourth full-length album, HEAT, which is due out this spring. The album came together quickly last summer after what Michelle calls a "writing explosion," and was recorded in Brooklyn with producer Matt Boynton (MGMT, Beirut, Bat for Lashes), whose fingerprints are especially noticable on some of the fuller bistro-folk tracks.

Michelle and her Velvet Lapelles have kept up a prolific pace since forming in 2007; shortly after releasing their homespun debut, Orange Peels and Rattlesnakes, they placed first in City Pages' annual Picked to Click poll, and have continued to release albums at a steady clip. The band has taken a break from performing gigs in recent months to prepare for the new release, but Minnesota fans can see the band and hear some of the new songs live on February 10 at the Cedar Cultural Center.

HEAT drops on April 24, but the band is offering up their jaunty first single, "Just a Kid," as a free download below.

They also sent over a promo video that explains the inspiration behind the new album and features some footage of them in the studio last summer, watch that here: