Black Gives Way to Blue is the upcoming fourth studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, which is due for release on September 29, 2009. The first Alice in Chains album in nearly fourteen years, Black Gives Way to Blue is their first release with new vocalist William DuVall, who replaced the late Layne Staley. Black Gives Way to Blue marks the first Alice in Chains album released on Virgin Records, their first venture away from Columbia, who released all of their previous releases. 　　 　　The span of nearly fourteen years between the self-titled album and Black Gives Way to Blue marks the longest gap between studio albums in Alice in Chains' career. The band had been working on new material since early 2006, shortly before hiring DuVall as their new singer. By April 2007, Alice in Chains had been writing and demoing songs for the album, but the band did not show further signs of progress until October 2008, when they announced that they had begun recording with producer Nick Raskulinecz (of Foo Fighters, Stone Sour and Rush fame) in the studio. The writing and recording process was finally finished on March 18, 2009, guitarist Jerry Cantrell's 43rd birthday.