He's back, and three years later: Adams is one of the most consistent and prolific songwriters in music - releasing a blinding 13 albums in just 11 years. The three years since 2011's stunning Ashes And Fire is the longest he's taken between solo albums, suggesting it could well be his most considered work to date. We're sure it'll be worth the wait.

The new stuff could pick up where Ashes & Fire left off: The artwork for July's comeback single 'Gimme Something Good' has the same font and artwork style as his brilliant last record, suggesting it could be carrying things forward from there, which could be really quite something...

It might get loud: In the years since Ashes & Fire, Adams has released an Iron Maiden cover, produced a punk-rock EP for Fall Out Boy and a spikey Americana album for Jenny Lewis, released a punk single with side-project Pornography and performed with a full live band for the first time since The Cardinals disbanded. We keep our fingers crossed for a return to the rockier sounds of Gold, Easy Tiger, Demolition and Rock N Roll.

It's going to be a REAL album: In an age of the stream, the cloud, the MP3 and passing fads in music, Ryan Adams remains a true album artist. He has his own label, loves to release a chunky epic vinyl box set, and writes his record to be enjoyed in their true form. Speaking to Gigwise back in 2011, Adams said: "I love the album as a piece of art. I love the process of writing music and the consideration of how those things go together. I have an album fetish, I am an album collector. I think it’s a very Romantic notion to be making things like albums in this day and age. When I use the term Romantic I think it is a joy of the human existence to subscribe to pleasure and to just subscribe to creating things that can feel mystical and that they’re full of some sort of energy that has the ability to transform you or the people that listen to them."

It might get political: Always one to draw from personal experience, Adams has flirted with politics in his time. Last summer, he got into a Twitter spat with right-wing US TV nutjob Sean Hannity, when Adams posted: "Your entire soul is controlled by fear and by hate. Evolve little chicken man. See reality." Things got ugly when Hannity called him a 'coward' live on air. Fingers crossed for Adams vitriolic response in song form.

The stuff we've heard so far sounds awesome: At his Royal Albert Hall shows last year, Adams debuted two new tracks. 'This Is Where We Meet In My Mind' is a swooning jazzy-folk affair that sounds like twinkling stars would, while 'In The Shadows' is a stomping blues-rocker with some searing guitar - the sound of Adams in his prime. If they make the album, it could be pretty damn special.

He's one of the best live acts around: From his improv comedy songs, banter about his cats to his flawless vocals and ability to make the most vast of venues seem intimate, you'd struggle to attend a more memorable gig than a Ryan Adams show. Fingers crossed for a tour by the end of the year.

He doesn't suffer fools: These days, most rockstars are media-trained robots - void of opinion. But not our R'Adams (just ask the good folks at DrownedInSound and Pitchfork). We can't wait to have him back on the rounds, shooting down critics and launching awesome tirades.