The latest from guitar legend Eric Clapton [ tickets ] surfaces at the head of this week’s pack of new releases, and is joined by offerings from Semisonic [ tickets ], Our Lady Peace [ tickets ] and the Soft Boys. All four artists have planned tours behind their new discs.

Eric Clapton offers up “Reptile” (Reprise) this week, the first album containing original material from the veteran guitarist since 1998’s “Pilgrim.” The new disc is the follow up to last June’s Grammy-nominated release, “Riding with the King,” an album comprising 12 blues covers performed by Clapton and blues legend B.B. King; that album has been certified double-platinum.

To mark the release of “Reptile,” Clapton has teamed with VH1.com to offer streaming-audio versions of all of the album’s tracks from Monday (3/12) until 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday morning (3/14).

“Superman Inside,” the first single from “Reptile,” is currently at No. 26 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart after entering at No. 31 two weeks back.

Clapton kicked off his world tour in support of “Reptile” last month in Europe, and is scheduled to begin the first leg of his North American tour in May.

Semisonic is back this week with “All About Chemistry” (MCA), the follow-up to the group’s breakthrough album, “Feeling Strangely Fine.” The new disc is the Minneapolis-based trio’s third LP.

On Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Semisonic is scheduled to participate in a live chat on America Online. The group is also slated to appear on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Wednesday night (3/14).

The band is scheduled to kick off a North American tour in support of “All About Chemistry” on April 1.

The first single from the band’s new album, “Chemistry,” is currently at No. 13 on trade publication Radio & Records’ latest adult alternative national airplay chart.

The group’s 1998 release “Feeling Strangely Fine” has been certified platinum, and featured the hit single “Closing Time.”

Click here to read LiveDaily’s recent interview with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson.

“Spiritual Machines” (Columbia), the latest from Our Lady Peace, surfaces in U.S. record stores this week after hitting shelves in the group’s native Canada last December. Earlier this month, the group embarked on a U.S. club tour that was recently extended through early May.

Thirty-second previews of all of the tracks on “Spiritual Machines” are currently available in streaming-audio formats via a special Our Lady Peace feature on House of Blues online.

The group is scheduled to appear on “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" on March 20, according to its official website.

Our Lady Peace’s previous album, “Happiness … Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch,” was released in 1999, and was the follow-up to the group’s breakthrough album, “Clumsy.” The latter disc has been certified gold, largely due to the success of the group’s hit single “Superman’s Dead.”

Just four days before the opening of the Soft Boys’ U.S. reunion tour, Matador Records is set to re-release the group’s critically acclaimed 1980 album, “Underwater Moonlight."

In addition to the album’s 10 original tracks, the new version will feature nine bonus cuts recorded during the “Underwater Moonlight” sessions.

Blues veteran John Hammond [ tickets ]’s 28th studio album, “Wicked Grin” (Pointblank), turns up this week. Twelve of the album’s 13 tracks were co-written by Tom Waits, who also produced the album.

Hammond will kick off a tour in support of “Wicked Grin” in California on Sunday (3/11).

Baha Men are making the most out of the success that their unlikely hit “Who Let the Dogs Out” has garnered them by releasing “2 Zero 0-0” (Mercury), an album featuring previously released material.

Other new releases: