R.E.M will preview new tracks from their fourteenth studio album during a forthcoming Irish tour.
Billboard reports that the band are set to play five shows in Dublin in the middle of the year. The shows, running between June 30 and July 5, will apparently be the first time the band have showcased new songs prior to releasing them in over a decade.The band will head into the studio in between now and then to record the tracks with Jacknife Lee, a Grammy winner who has produced for Snow Patrol, Green Day, Bloc Party and U2. The new album is slated for release at the end of 2007 on Warner Bros
Speaking to Billboard when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame recently, bassist Mike Mills said the band is planning a more live sounding and up-tempo record. But he tempered that by noting, "The trouble with making records is that you can plan all you want. But what we find is that the records tend to take on a life of their own, so it could go in any direction."
