Bouncing Back. (cover story)

It's a familiar story: Teenage girl signs major-label contract. Naive and unsure of how to navigate the system, she and her band make an album that reflects the producer's vision much more than their own. To add further insult, the drummer gets tossed for someone who keeps better tempo.

The album goes on to become a worldwide sensation, but success is bittersweet for the group. The follow-up sells poorly.

Finally, on the band's third effort, the group has the chance to get it rightâ€"18 years after its debut.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians.

"Stranger Things," the first album from the group since 1990's "Ghost of a Dog," comes out July 25 on Fantasy. It is the first new recording by a pop act on the imprint in 25 years, as well as the first by the group to feature original New Bohemians drummer Brandon Aly. Brickell and Aly are joined by guitarist Kenny Withrow, bassist Brad Houser, keyboardist Carter Albrecht and percussionist John Bush.

Produced by the band and Bryce Goggin, "Stranger Things" is a loose-limbed, joyful excursion. It features Brickell, who turned 40 this year, leaving far behind the girlish winsomeness of the first two records, while her voice loses none of its considerable charm. Tracks such as "Buffalo Ghost" would sound at home on the previous projects, but much of the album adopts the languid, jam-band tone she and her bandmates wanted from the start.

"We were aching to make the record we always wanted to make," Brickell says in her first interview about the new project.

The band's manager, Carla Sacks, brought the nearly finished album to Concord, which purchased Fantasy in late 2004. "The idea of [Brickell] working with New Bohemians again was really enticing," Concord senior VP of strategic marketing Robert Smith says. "The nature of the songs and the way she sings seems to fit a contemporary audience."

Concord serviced the track "One Last Time" to triple-A, noncommercial and college radio the week of May 22.

The campaign will also focus on media, touring and print advertising. "This is an artist where word-of-mouth really counts," Smith says. "The expectation is not that the album will achieve its pinnacle the first week and hover; it's going to come out and build."