April 28, 1998, 12:00 am PT

Teen rockers Days of the New will be adding a female voice to their next album, tentatively titled Phobics of Tragedy.

  The band started recording this month at their own studio in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky with Todd Smith (who engineered their 1997 self- titled debut on Outpost Recordings) and the band's 19- year- old lead singer/ guitarist Travis Meeks as co-producers. So far, the only song recorded is the potential title track, "Phobics of Tragedy."

  According to a source at Outpost, the new singer will be contributing "additional vocals" to the band -- who have recorded demos with a few ladies, but haven't chosen the singer yet. "She won't be a member, just possibly a touring member and contributing vocals to the album," says the source.

 The album is expected to be finished before the band -- which also includes guitarist Todd Whitener, bassist Jesse Vest, and drummer Matt Taul -- heads out on the Metallica tour with Alice in Chains' guitarist Jerry Cantrell on June 24 (allstar, March 23). It's not yet determined when the album will be released.

  Days of the New, produced by the band's A&R rep and Outpost partner Scott Litt (who's also produced R.E.M.), has sold approximately 700,000 units and features "Touch, Peel and Stand," which spent a record- breaking 16 weeks on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart at No. 1, beating Stone Temple Pilots' 15-week record for "Interstate Love Song."