Madonna aims for New album Release in Spring, 2012

Madonna announced during a recent interview that her next album — the first since 2008’s “Hard Candy” — will be released in spring 2012.

The “Material Girl” songbird made the reveal while promoting her latest cinematic effort, “W.E.,” during an interview with Sweden’s Sveriges Television in Venice, Italy. The singer noted that she’s done “a little bit of work” on the new collection in the studio, but will pick the project back up in earnest when she returns to New York, recording “until the end of the year.”

According to the singer, the first single for the album will be released in February or March 2012, with the full album due in the spring.