It's been six years since Jackson Browne released an album of new material, but the veteran singer/songwriter hardly feels like he's been scarce during that interim.

"I made three albums since my last studio album," Browne -- who releases "Time the Conqueror" Sept. 23 on his own Inside Recordings label -- tells Billboard.com, referencing a pair of "Acoustic Live" sets and a collaboration with Fred Martin & the Levite Camp on 2006's "Some Bridges."

"For me it's pretty steady, continuous work. And I'm kind of playing continuously, even though it's not necessarily a national tour or a publicity campaign. I'm just playing all the time."

Nevertheless, Browne acknowledges, "I missed my band a lot ... and getting to make an album where you're rehearsed and you have production and you're ready to play these songs is a real pleasure for me."

Browne has been making "Time The Conqueror" for about three years, in fact. He road-tested some of the 10 songs, including the title track and "Just Say Yeah," during his acoustic tour, while others were inspired by soundcheck jams. Browne even started "The Drums of War," one of several politically minded tracks on the album, during the early days of the Iraq invasion in 2004.

Browne will be touring to promote "Time The Conqueror" starting Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C., and continuing around the world next year. At the same time, he'll also be monitoring his lawsuit against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, for using Browne's "Running On Empty" without authorization in campaign ads.

"It's pretty open and shut," Browne notes. "They can't use your music without your permission, and it's pretty hard to imagine a senator or anybody in a political campaign not knowing that. The law is so well pronounced. They use your song without asking and you have to make them pay for it. But I'm not sure if it'll be resolved soon or quickly."