Finnish goth-rockers HIM will unleash their seventh studio album on February 9th, titled Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. Frontman Ville Valo told Billboard.com that it's the group's most "straightforward" and "hook-filled" effort yet, and he also explained to us what he had in mind for the project: "I wanted a massive, American rock-sounding album coming together with a more peculiar Depeche Modian sense and the tragic melancholy vibe. And it's easier said than done, but you know, I think we pulled it off great and I'm super happy about it. You know, this is the first album I'm getting chills down my spine when I'm listening to it, and let me tell you, that's pretty rare for a musician."

Valo expanded on this to Billboard, saying that he wants Screamworks to "have the similar vibe as Depeche Mode's classic albums such as Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion -- brooding, melancholy albums but they still make you want to dance."

The vocalist also admitted that Screamworks is the first album he's written and recorded completely sober, saying, "I quit drinking -- not for good but for awhile -- about two and a half years ago . . . I wanted to put all the energy I used to put into hanging out in pubs into working on the music."

The first single from Screamworks is called "Heartkiller."

HIM will launch a tour in support of the record in mid-February, starting in Europe and Australia before arriving in North America sometime in March.