Yellowcard [ tickets ] has begun mapping a 2006 U.S. tour that will kick off shortly before its new album, "Lights and Sounds," arrives in stores.

The band is currently slated to launch the run Jan. 19 in Minneapolis, and dates so far are lined up through early February. Details are shown below.

Five days after the group hits the road, "Lights and Sounds" will land in stores. The set, which follows 2003's "Ocean Avenue," features the hit-single title track, which also turns up in the Electronic Arts video game "Burnout Revenge." The cut is streaming at Yellowcard's website.

Vocalist/guitarist Ryan Key and bassist/keyboardist Pete Mosley, the group's chief songwriters, moved from Los Angeles to New York City in early 2005 to "clear their heads and begin the songwriting process," according to a press release.

"This album is much more about what's actually going on in my head," Key said in a statement. "I needed to let go of a lot of stuff and force myself to drag some things out that I was afraid to write about. I think there is a little bit of fear on the record--fear of the future, fear of change--and I think all that came out in New York because I was trying to be as confident and positive and forward-thinking as I could, to actually let go and ask, 'What if it all goes wrong?'"

Earlier this month, Yellowcard confirmed long-swirling rumors that founding guitarist Ben Harper's relationship with the other band members had soured, and that he had left the group to devote more time to his indie label, Takeover Records, and related projects.

"Due to some ongoing tensions within the band, and some great new opportunities with Takeover bands which have recently presented themselves, it seemed time to take my experiences with Yellowcard and apply them to the development of other new artists and new music-centric media projects that I'm planning under the Takeover Records Entertainment Group umbrella," Harper said in a Nov. 7 statement.

"We've simply grown apart, personally and creatively, which can happen in any relationship," Yellowcard violinist/vocalist Sean Mackin added. "This change is hard for all of us, but Ben will always be our brother."

The group has since tapped former Staring Back guitarist Ryan Mendez to take over for Harper. Drummer Longineu Parsons rounds out the band's lineup.