Professor by day and rock star by night, Florence Dore has been suttling between music and literature for most of her adult existence. All the different strands of her life and career come together on Highways & Rocketships, her first solo album in years. Following a series of singles, the 10-song collection will be out June 10 on Propeller Sound Recordings, the new imprint run by former R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt.

Fans of the dB's take note: Her band features dB's drummer (and Florence's husband) Will Rigby and dB's bassist Gene Holder. Not quite the dB's but you never know what might happen with this rhythm section.

Highways & Rocketships hits the sweet spot between classic rock, Americana and 1980s-vintage college radio. The hooks, ambience and arrangements are impeccable, evoking both modern-day pop sense and vintage blue-eyed soul, featuring contributions from some of leading lights of the past four decades of American indie-rock – Son Volt’s Mark Spencer, Southern Culture on the Skids bassist Mary Huff, Mipso fiddler/vocalist Libby Rodenbough and legendary R.E.M. co-producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter among them.