Janet Jackson announces album

Janet Jackson on Saturday announced that she would release a new album this year in a first since the death of her brother Michael.

Jackson released a video that showed a sound system, with her voice speaking gently over background chatter and urban music.

"I promised you'd hear it from my lips, and now you will. This year -- new music, new world tour, a new movement," she said.

She was apparently referring to her message on Twitter last year that played down speculation of a new album, with Jackson saying at the time that "you'll hear it from my lips" if new music is coming.

Jackson called her latest announcement "Conversations in a Cafe," presumably the title or at least the theme of the upcoming album.

The youngest member of the Jackson family, Janet broke through in her own right with her 1986 album "Control" which was a landmark in merging R&B and the growing genre of hip-hop.

Jackson, who has sold more than 140 million albums, last released a studio album in 2008, the electronic-driven "Discipline."

She briefly retreated from public view to grieve after Michael Jackson died in 2009, but has since returned to acting and went on an 80-date tour in 2011 to promote a greatest hits collection.

In 2012, she quietly married Qatari tycoon Wissam Al Mana.
Source: AFP