Rock duo the White Stripes will keep busy this spring with the April release of their new album and a subsequent tour that kicks off in the same month.

Jack (guitar-vocals) and Meg White (drums) drop their second major-label effort--titled "Elephant"--on April 1--two weeks earlier than originally planned. The release was moved up when the album's tracks were leaked on the Internet.

"I'm very sad at some of you for peeking at your Christmas presents before Christmas morning. Can't you wait?" Jack White wrote on the band's official website. "We want you to have [the album] when we want you to have it. It's unfair that some get a taste and confuse others before they have the chance to have it for themselves, but the devil is at work here and you will pay for your impatience. This world of have-it-now, millisecond attention span and gross neglect for quality is getting old."

After the album's release, the Detroit pair spends early April on a brief Japanese tour before launching a U.S. outing mid-month, starting with two shows in their hometown.

The album's first single is titled "Seven Nation Army." Fans who own any of the group's previous full-length CDs can get a sneak preview of the new album by visiting the group's website.

"Elephant" is the follow-up to the group's critically acclaimed 2001 set, "White Blood Cells," which features the hits "Fell in Love With a Girl" and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground."

Originally released on indie label Sympathy for the Record Industry, "White Blood Cells" was re-released on BMG imprint V2 in 2002.