Add R.E.M. to the growing list of veteran rockers turning to the South by Southwest Music Festival to help launch their latest album. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have signed on to play the Austin, Texas, festival, which runs from March 12-16 this year, to help set up the forthcoming “Accelerate” album, due April 1 on Warner Bros. Records.
“Accelerate,” which features songs that the band hashed out during a concert stint in Dublin last spring, has a rockier edge, aided by production from Jacknife Lee. Singer Michael Stipe told Uncut magazine that the album marks a return to strong communication in the band. “We didn’t talk to each other for a couple of records – as friends or as bandmates,” he said. “And we reached a point before this LP where we sat down at a table and hashed it out.”
PHOTO: Warner Bros. Records