Tom Petty Looking Ahead at 2014

Tom Petty tells Rolling Stone the songs he's working on for release next year are in the vein of 2010's 'Mojo', but "to a new power. It's not as strict to the blues as that one is. But everything comes from the blues, and we've found something new -- a new way to stamp the blues... Writing a song is such a gift from God. You have to be patient and attentive, and I gotta stay at it a lot. But things turn up, and when they do, it's exciting and makes you want to go back and try it again."

Petty and The Heartbreakers have laid down 12 tracks, from which he hears six songs that he's "sure about. There may be more, but I'm definitely sure of those."

Petty and the band will take time out from recording in the spring to start a six-week tour on May 16th in Evansville, Indiana before returning to the studio in July.