Third Eye Blind hit the road in March, starting with a set of shows in its hometown of San Francisco to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary. Along the way, the Bay Area quartet has been previewing songs from its forthcoming album, which is reportedly due this year.

Band frontman Stephan Jenkins recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that songs from the new set--tentatively titled "The Hideous Strength"--will be more political than Third Eye Blind's previous hook-filled radio hits like "Semi-Charmed Life" and "How's It Going to Be."

"Over the last few years, I realized I've been personally so oppressed by government and the way so many people in our country have been silenced and duped," the singer told the paper. "It's had a personal effect on me and I had to write about it."

The upcoming record follows the band's third studio effort, 2003's "Out of the Vein," and last year's "A Collection," which is Third Eye Blind's first career-spanning compilation.

The group was thrust into the spotlight with its self-titled 1997 debut, which sold more than 6 million copies on the strength of hit singles "Semi-Charmed Life", "Graduate," "How's It Going to Be," "Losing a Whole Year" and "Jumper."