Rod Stewart breaks 20-year writer's block

Rod Stewart is to release his first album of new songs for 20 years. Photo / HBT

Veteran star Rod Stewart is to release his first album of new songs for 20 years, after getting over a lengthy period of writer's block.

The 68-year-old has written and produced all but one of the 12 tracks on his new release Time after becoming reinvigorated by writing his memoir.

For the past few years he has had a lucrative stream of releases which have been primarily cover versions, including his successful Great American Songbook series.

The three times married star today unveiled the first single from the album, called It's Over, which was inspired by divorce and has now been released as a download.

Announcing his comeback, record label Decca said since 1991 the singer had "simply lost his songwriting muse".

His creativity came back in 2011 as he worked on his best-selling autobiography, Rod.

Stewart said: "Something about that process of reviewing my life for the book reconnected me and that was it - I was away.

"Suddenly ideas for lyrics were piling up in my head. Next thing I knew, I had a song called It's Over about divorce and separation.

"And now I was getting up in the middle of the night and scrambling for a pen to write things down, which has never happened to me.

"I finished seven or eight songs very quickly and I still wasn't done and it became apparent that I would eventually have a whole album of material to record, which had never happened before."

Time is being released in the UK on May 6.

- PAA