Buddy and Julie Miller are finally back

The 12-song set was produced by Miller and follows their critically acclaimed "Written In Chalk," released in 2009. Three individual seven-inch singles featuring songs from the album will be released physically in the months preceding its release.

NPR premiered the first single, "Spittin' On Fire" b/w "War Child" today.

The CD took longer than expected. After initially starting work following the release of "Written in Chalk " in 2009, Julie was waylaid by health issues she continues to battle.

Buddy colloborated with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss during their Raising Sand tour and produced albums by Plant, Solomon Burke, Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle, Patty Griffin. He also joined T Bone Burnett on the musical team working on the hit ABC-TV series Nashville, and following Burnett's departure, became the show's executive music Ppoducer.

"I wrote the song 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' as a message to Buddy, because we kept putting off making our album because he was so busy," Julie says of the song that set the stage for "Breakdown on 20th Ave. South."

"In my mind, I thought I was always about to get back to work with Julie, but in reality I kept getting put off," Buddy said. "I apologized a lot. I look back, and I realized I was neglectful. It was a mistake I wish I hadn't made. What Julie and I create together is fulfilling to me in a way nothing else is, and I should have nurtured it more."

Julie acknowledges the tension that arose in the years between recordings. "It took me too long to communicate how I was feeling," she said. "I felt as if I was waiting for my turn. I know he feels guilty about it. I was ill, and I was depressed, and that complicated everything. Once he realized how I felt, he was incredibly gracious, and he really focused on helping me craft what I wanted to create."

Once they started work on the album, Julie wrote 50 to 60 new songs.

Recording began with "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," in the couple's bedroom located upstairs from Buddy's home studio where Emmylou Harris, Plant and Burke recorded. "After that first song, we wanted the record to be just us," Buddy said. "The songs are all Julie's, and she wanted the sound to be as raw as the lyrics are."

A special release show will be held June 26 at City Winery in Nashville. The Millers are scheduled to perform, and the live show will be recorded for later broadcast on the Buddy & Jim Radio Show, the longtime radio program Buddy Miller has co-hosted with friend and songwriter Jim Lauderdale, on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country Channel. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 3 p.m. central.

Julie's debut, "Meet Julie Miller," was released in 1990. Her songs have been recorded by Levon Helm, Little Jimmy Scott, Linda Ronstadt, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Lee Ann Womack, Wynonna Judd, Sam Bush, Dianna Krall, Burke and Harris.