It had long been rumored that the American Idol season 8 runner-up had signed a deal with Warner Brothers. After parting ways with RCA records in 2013, he went into the studio with Swedish hit maker, Max Martin and his team, to record new music. It was just a matter of time until the singer was ready to make the big announcement.

Would it be during his stint as Queen frontman? Adam is currently touring with the legendary band. As it turns out, the announcement comes on the day that the American Idol New York City auditions air on FOX.  Adam filled in on the judges panel for Keith Urban whose father-in-law had suddenly passed away.

Warner Brothers contacted Adam right after news broke that he split with RCA.

“The next day, Warner Bros. contacted us, which I thought was pretty amazing and it was a kind of relief,” Adam told Billboard. “It was just a scary thing to make that announcement to the world.”

Adam and his team at Direct Management decided to reach out to Max Martin and Shellback. The two first worked with Adam on his post-Idol debut, For Your Entertainment, producing his two singles “Whataya Want From Me” and “If I Had You.”

“So I scheduled a meeting with Max Martin and Shellback. We started talking about life, politics, fashion, everything under the sun,” Adam recalled. “They said, ‘You seem different, Adam,’ and I said, ‘I feel a little different.’ And I just asked them for their help.”

Martin and Shellback are executive producing Adam’s next studio album, the first under the singer’s new multiple-album deal with the label. The set is due out in early summer. Expect a single in April.

“Shellback and I first realized in 2009 that a voice and talent like Adam Lambert’s doesn’t come around very often,” said Martin in a statement to Billboard. “We loved the experience and hoped our paths would cross again. So, when Adam came to us with a new opportunity to work together, we leapt at it and even suggested a deeper relationship where we would get the chance to really help define Adam’s music over a whole album. We teamed up with the perfect partner in Warner Brothers and can’t wait for everyone to hear the dynamic album. We are really proud of it and hope you like it as much as we do!”

“I wanted something more internal and more grounded. A little less with the theatrical and the camp and the presentation.,” Adam said of the new direction his music is taking. “I wanted to bring it in a bit more. Being on the road with a British rock band, and being in London a lot this year, rehearsing with them and doing TV gigs, I think that has affected my sound and where we are headed with it.”

UPDATE: Warner Brothers CEO, Cameron Stang, on signing Adam, in an interview with Billboard:

I think the potential is worldwide superstar. He has fans all over the world. He’s he’s got one of the great voices and he’s coming into his own as a person and as a man. He more comfortable with himself and his artistic vision of himself and I think there’s a confidence and a freedom that comes with having made more than one record.