Five months after leaving the Squirrel Nut Zippers, former frontman Tom Maxwell has taken to the Web to release a special limited edition of his new solo album, "Samsara," the regular version of which is due out next spring.

Maxwell recorded the album, which takes its title from a Buddhist term for the endless cycle of desire and dissatisfaction, in March at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans. He was assisted by Zippers bassist Chris Phillips and guitarist Ken Mosher, who recently quit the Squirrel Nut Zippers himself. The Dirty Dozen's Julius McKee also guests on the album.

Musically, "Samsara" is described as a mixture of everything from New Orleans jazz to Chinese opera, and Maxwell, a virtual one-man band who penned the Zippers' biggest hit, "Hell," sings and plays guitar, bass, alto sax, drums, clarinet, and cymbals on his new LP.

The multi-instrumentalist has made 1,000 copies of the album available via his Web site (www.tommaxwell.com) and has personally signed and numbered each copy.

Maxwell split from the Squirrel Nut Zippers in early July, right after he and Mosher came off the road from playing in the Ben Folds Five's backing band (see "Tom Maxwell Leaves Squirrel Nut Zippers").