Irish songstress Sinead O'Connor is coming out of a two-year retirement to work on at least two albums for release this year, Rolling Stone reports.

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The records, one of them a reggae effort, will be complemented by a tour starting April 2 that will include stops in the United States.

O'Connor, 38, plans to combine her punk roots with her more newfound spirituality, telling the Irish music magazine Hotpress mainstream music has "all the sincerity of a whore's kiss."

While a record deal has yet to be finalized, O'Connor's manager, Danny Heaps, is confident this "will be resolved imminently."

O'Connor won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance for her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" from her 1990 album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got."

In 1991 she was criticized by Frank Sinatra and others for refusing to allow the national anthem played before one of her concerts. The following year she concluded her performance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" by tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II.

Two weeks later, O'Connor ran off the stage during a show in New York after being showered with boos.