Confirming news first reported here in February, veteran modern rock act Smashing Pumpkins is writing material for its first new studio album since 2000. In a message on its Web site, the Billy Corgan-led group said it will begin recording this summer but has no release date in mind for the project.

At deadline it is still unclear if Corgan and Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are working with any other musicians. "As long as Billy has Jimmy, he can make the essential Pumpkins record, I'm sure," former Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur previously told Billboard.com, adding that while she is not involved in any reunion plans, "my services are always there to play my favorite songs."

Corgan stunned fans last June when he took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times announcing his intentions to "renew and "revive" the Pumpkins, who split acrimoniously in 2000. In 2004, he broke his silence about why the band dissolved, lashing out at guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky for walking away from an endeavor he described as "essentially my entire life... a dream I still believe in."

Corgan's newspaper ads came out the same day as his Reprise solo debut, "The Future Embrace," which met with a chilly reception at retail.