Even as his latest album, “Passion, Pain & Pleasure,” continues to churn out singles — including the latest, “Love Faces” — Trey Songz is hatching plans for its successor.

“I want to release an album this year,” the Atlanta-based R&B singer tells Billboard.com. “We’re starting in the studio now. I’m always thinking about music. I’m in the studio whenever I can be. I’m not pressed or in a rush to make an album right now, but I always have a need to make music.”

Songz isn’t making any predictions about what kind of direction his fifth studio set will take, however. “No, not right now. I’m feeling very creative, though, so it may be something I’ve never done before. There’s always a certain amount of pressure there, but I like that. With every album, I definitely want to grow my audience as well as myself.”

That’s certainly been happening with “Passion, Pain & Pleasure,” which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in September (No. 1 R&B) and has sold 662,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album also scored a Top 10 hit with “Bottoms Up” as well as an R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart-topper with “Can We Be Friends.”

“I think it’s definitely been a gradual build to where we are right now,” says Songz, whose first album came out in 2005. “I’ve worked very hard to get where I am…I’ve been blessed to have a lot of hits within the last two, three years, so I went from being a song you hear on the radio to being an [i]artist[/i] you hear on the radio.”

Songz, who opened for Usher on his recent OMG Tour, is celebrating the success with a five-date Love Faces Tour that stars Feb. 11 and hits New York City, Washington, D.C., Detroit and Chicago. ”We’re actually putting a new show together,” Songz says. “I want it to be very special for this Valentine’s Day holiday. I want women and I want couples…I want everybody to just have an amazing Valentine’s Day weekend with me. I’m really excited about it.”

After that, Songz heads for Europe with Ne-Yo and Australia with Usher and hopes to make an international footprint before he heads back into the studio.

“We’ll be overseas for two months making sure that I’m world-renowned as a great tour act versus just another song,” he explains. “I put in a lot of work to be loved and welcomed in arenas and shows in America, so I want the same thing for overseas. I’m just exploring every opportunity, and I definitely will be making (new) music when I come back

Source: Billboard

I’m not a huge fan of his music or his voice but I love a hard worker. He’s released 2 albums in less then 2 years time and s hard at work on a third. That’s hustle and I respect that. His last 2 album have shifted a little bit over gold status but I know he really wants to go platinum, that may be what this whole thing is about. Pressure from peers, the fans and his label, Atlantic Records could be the root of this prolific behavior. They put ALOT of coins into Trey Songz, they want him to shift a million or more records. That said, I think the next album is gonna have some tremendous crossover appeal. Look for a tracks with more mainstream artist and music supplied by more commercial producers. That’s the only way I see him blowing up.. Few artist can resist the allure of more fans, more money and added appear on Billboard and radio.. Ask Beyonce..