Sage Francis has scheduled a series of tour dates in support of his forthcoming album, Li(f)e, which drops May 11. B. Dolan, who just released Fallen House, Sunken City; and Free Moral Agents will join him.

Check out the above video — it’s pretty amusing.

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As the 2010 music season heats up, don’t forget about Sage Francis. The Providence, Rhode Island poet, rapper and iconoclast is returning with his first album since 2007’s Human the Death Dance. Set for release via Anti- on May 11, Li(f)e is a collaboration with several rock musicians, including producer Brian Deck (known for his work on Modest Mouse) and Jim Becker and Tim Rutili from Califone. The overarching theme is a critique of organized religion.

Intrigued? Check the bio facts:

An underground star from his years as a battle champion, poet and founder of influential Strange Famous Records, Francis garnered even wider acclaim with his incendiary 2005 release “A Healthy Distrust,” a timely condemnation of corporate greed, war-mongering and American complacency. On his electrifying new album Li(f)e, Francis turns his keen observational skills to a culture of rampant hypocrisy and, in particular, organized religion.

This album is a marked evolution for Francis. His signature wordplay, a dazzling mix of sardonic humor and biting social commentary, is now complimented by a talented band consisting of producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) and cohorts Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of the acclaimed Chicago outfit Califone. It proves an effective soundtrack for Francis’ riveting lyrical discourse. The record’s title Li(f)e is a deliberate amalgamation of the words life and lie. As Francis says, “What about life is a lie? What we’re told about God is a lie. What we’re told about race, gender roles, beauty, war, food, drugs, sexuality, capitalism, history, the nature of humankind…a gang of lies. I feel it in my gut, I think it in my brain, I write it with my hands and I speak it with my mouth. That’s what makes Li(f)e the general theme of this album.”

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Lots of politically-themed music and events this week as the world enters the final month before the long-awaited McCain/Obama showdown. Next up: A new track from Sage Francis.

Some may remember that Francis wrote one of the best songs on the 9/11 tragedy and its aftermath, “Makeshift Patriot.” This time, he honors the protestors at the Republican National Convention; and Jared Paul,  a slam poet/indy journalist covering the protests. You can download the song at the Strange Famous Records website.

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If Sage Francis’ summer trek for Human the Death Dance was a full-blown punk-hopper’s paradise that co-starred Buck 65, Bernard Dolan, and Alias, then his opening dates for Against Me! will be a little more low-key. Against Me! is the Gainesville, Fla. hardcore band who, when not gathering kudos for its string of albums (including this year’s New Wave), sometimes combats fans who feel they’ve sold out. The resolutely independent Francis should lend the tour some credibility.

Francis, for his part, will continue to support Human the Death Dance, which critics will hopefully remember when it’s time to make those all-important Best of 2007 lists. Dance, monkey! The tour dates are below.

Last week, Rhode Island warrior-poet Sage Francis announced the itinerary for his national tour supporting Human the Death Dance. To liven things up, he’s assembled a proper band that includes Anticon rapper/producer Alias on synthesizers and MPC, guitarist Tom Inhaler and multi-instrumentalist Dilly Dally.

Better yet Buck 65 will be one of the tour’s opening acts. Much like Sage Francis, the Montreal rapper apprenticed with Anticon earlier in the decade. He has since evolved into a strange Tom Waits-like storyteller with a huge cult following, even though most of his work is only available in this country on import. Spoken word poet Buddy Wakefield fills out the bill.

Human the Death Dance, as previously noted, drops May 8 on Anti-/Epitaph. Sage has prepared a few appetizers: he created a short video for the track "Clickety Clak"; the YouTube clip is below. He’ll also make a few in-store appearances around the time the album is released, then wage a full-scale assault later in the month.

‘Tis the season of great white rappers! Following anticipated releases by El-P and Brother Ali (who, granted, is albino), Sage Francis returns with a new album of spoken-word-styled rhymes and Ernest Hemingway-sized manifestos. The Providence, Rhode Island citizen will soon release his third major album (and umpteenth overall), Human the Death Dance.

"With all the work Epitaph plans on putting into this record, I suspect it will break the 100,000 point, which is something I have never done. Fingers are crossed," writes Francis on his website. "The material on this album is strong as hell. I have to say…there are Personal Journals moments…there are Hope moments…there is ONE Healthy Distrust moment…and the rest is probably the stuff I will be most remembered by."

Guests featured on Human the Death Dance include eccentric folk stylist Jolie Holland, character rapper Buck 65 and trumpeter/movie composer Mark Isham (Crash, The Cooler). Several of Isham and Francis’ collaborations will appear in Pride & Glory, a forthcoming drama about New York police corruption starring Ed Norton and Colin Farrell. Human the Death Dance hits stores via Anti/Epitaph on May 8.