It's looking to be a busy year for the Dresden Dolls and its frontwoman, Amanda Palmer. First up is the band's "No, Virginia," due May 20 via Roadrunner. The collection rounds up five new recordings of old songs, covers and B-sides.

"It's like my spring cleaning record," Palmer tells Billboard.com. "I was like, 'You know what? Three years from now, I want to go into the studio with [drummer/vocalist] Brian [Viglione] and do what I'm doing in 2009 and not remaking that material. These are songs I'm proud of, but are an older version of my songwriter self."

Also due in mid-September is Palmer's solo debut, "Who Killed Amanda Palmer," on which she teams up with Ben Folds, who contributes production, keyboards and drums. "It's awesome," she enthuses of the project. "It's just epic in scope; string arrangements, orchestral stuff. A lot of it is one take stuff, but with layers and layers."

Palmer's also teamed with comic book author Neil Gaiman to create a companion book to be released at the same time as the album.

The Dresden Dolls begin a two-week tour Sunday (May 18) in San Francisco, and are also on board for the Rothbury Festival in Michigan over 4th of July weekend. In addition, Palmer will collaborate June 19-20 for two shows with the Boston Pops Orchestra.