Daughtry performed on American Idol last night, and today 19 Recordings/RCA announced the release of his 2nd album “Leave This Town.” It will be released on July 14th, the album once again produced by Howard Benson (All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance) features a dozen plus songs, including the first single, “No Surprise.”

Chris Daughtry, bassist Josh Paul, drummer Joey Barnes, and guitarists Brian Craddock and Josh Steely recorded Leave This Town in Los Angeles. Much of the album explores the different paths we take in our search for transcendence. “A lot of it is about how leaps of faith can set us free or tie us down, and how we often find heartache when we run from something and redemption when we run toward something,” says Chris Daughtry.

Musically, the album shifts gears smoothly between arena-rock anthems (“No Surprise,” “Ghost of Me”), hushed ballads (“September”), emotional mid-tempos (“Life After You,” “Learned My Lesson”) and country-influenced (“Tennessee Line”).

Leave This Town is Daughtry’s follow-up to its 2006 GRAMMY-nominated debut, which sold 5 million copies worldwide. The eponymous album spawned a trio of #1 songs, was the largest-selling artist release for two years running, and earned multiple wins at the American Music Awards, the World Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards.