To celebrate the holiday season and help spread some holiday cheer, Mavis Staples yesterday announced she has finished work on her next album, "We'll Never Turn Back," which was produced by Ry Cooder and will mark her debut for ANTI- Records when it is released in April 2007. The new album combines raw, emotional, contemporized versions of some of the freedom songs that provided the soundtrack to the civil rights movement of the 1950s/60s, along with other traditional songs, and new originals written by Mavis and Ry.

"Like many in the civil rights movement, The Staple Singers drew on the spirituality and strength of the church to help gain social justice and to try to achieve equal rights," says Mavis. "With this record, I hope to get across the same feeling, the same spirit and the same message as we did then--and to hopefully continue to make positive changes. Things are better but we’re not where we need to be and we’ll never turn back." Ry Cooder also plays guitar on the record, with his son Joaquin adding percusson. Other musicians on the record include drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Mike Elizando, the original Freedom Singers and South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Check out the Mavis MySpace Page
Mavis also has joined the MySpace community and to mark the season when you visit her MySpace profile you can hear her singing the hard-to-find theme song from the 1989 movie classic Christmas Vacation.

Stay tuned for more news on a Mavis TV appearance in January, advance tracks from the new album, and 2007 tour dates.