Usher is in album mode.

The R&B icon has been hard at work on his first full-length album in seven years. During an interview with Big Boy, he revealed that a release is imminent.

“I’m getting ready to launch my next album,” said Usher, who has reunited with former LaFace executive L.A. Reid, who produced his early albums.

“We’re working on something really, really incredible,” he added. “It’s going to be an amazing piece of history in my mind. Every album, I’m trying to create something that I think is for that moment. I ain’t really thinking about the past. I am mindful of it, but want to create something that I feel is connected.”

The pandemic delayed his plans, but he promises that the follow-up to 2016’s Hard II Love will finally arrive this year. “By the end of this year, you’ll have that album.”

Last month, he dropped his seductive single “GLU,” and he’s been in the studio with Lil Jon and Sean Garrett.

“Of course Usher and I are also working on doing an unbelievable album together,” Garrett recently told Rap-Up. “We’re following [‘GLU’] with a couple of monsters for the clubs and the world!”

Along with the album, Usher has a new label deal. “GLU” was released via Gamma, the new company founded by former Apple Music executive Larry Jackson.

Next year, his groundbreaking album Confessions turns 20 and he’s planning something special. “It’s gonna be a lot of incredible activations next year,” he teased.

Usher, who has his eye on headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, recently announced a series of European shows. His “Rendez-Vous Á Paris” residency kicks off Sept. 24 at La Seine Musicale and promises an all-new experience with costumes and special effects.

In the meantime, you can catch Usher on his “My Way” residency in Las Vegas, which runs through October. He will also headline the Lovers & Friends festival in Vegas on May 6.