The Raconteurs release a new album next week

It's out next week and it will be available everywhere and it will be titled Consolers Of The Lonely. And doesn't Jack look a bit weird with his new emo cut?

They say in the press release (which can be seen on their Tron-like website) that there are 14 new recordings on the album, which I think is excellent news. I thought their 2006 debut, Broken Boy Soldiers, whilst a very solid album, was just way too short. One of those recordings is Salute Your Solution, the first single from the album, which will have its video released next week also. They also say, bless their corporate socks, that it is NOT a reaction to a potential leak, meaning that it most definitely IS a reaction to a potential leak.

They will do some tour dates in America starting from April, and I imagine that they will come to the UK around the time they do a T In The Park and Oxegen double header (mid-July basically). I would be very keen on seeing them, since that the White Stripes gig in London last year got cancelled to the unfortunate anxiety illness that Meg had.

Of course, The Raconteurs are not the only band to have done this sort of thing recently. Radiohead started the trend in October last year with In Rainbows and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has done this his own Ghosts record a couple of weeks ago and the last Saul Williams record in November.

And to think that this all started as a rumour on At Ease, a Radiohead fan forum. Yikes.

The Raconteurs
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Nine Inch Nails album released

Trent Reznor has released a double album under the Nine Inch Nails guise, entitled Ghosts. I'm sure you've heard a lot about it right now. If not, then this link should explain it perfectly.

It seems like he wants to learn from his experience with the Saul Williams download and add more options. This sounds like an album that would be awesome to keep on CD, so I'm glad it's being offered this time. A shame that to get the vinyl I have to also buy a Blu-Ray disc, which I don't need. Oh well.

A full review of Ghosts will be up soon when I get the chance to listen it (or should that be download it, haha). I do urge you to buy the download at least and not be cheap, because Trent Reznor deserves it.

Download Ghosts

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Coldplay Album Update

Looks like the new Coldplay album is still a long way off from being finished. More to the point, it will not be called Prospekt, which was an album title widely speculated in the media. However, in a message on the band's official website, after the re-recording of one song and ten more mixes the new album should be done. They said it will be another month before it's finished but...ten mixes sounds like a lot of hard work for just a month. I reckon it will be a bit longer. Either way, you can probably place safe bets that the album is destined for a release in June or around that time (incidentally, three years after X&Y).

Coldplay

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Four albums for 2008

Better late than never, the albums that I'm looking forward to this year.

Franz Ferdinand - The sound on the album is said to be a bit more synth driven but one thing is for sure, it will definitely be by far a different record from their previous two. I can understand why people didn't like their second album (main reason being 'more of the same') but I liked the songs enough to let Franz off the hook. As long as there isn't another Eleanor, Put Your Boots On or Fade Together then I will be happy.

The Music - Much missed band in my books. Their last album, Welcome To The North (released back in the deep echelons of 2004) was an impressive rock record which should have propelled them to stardom. Yet they are still nowhere near as popular as other bands. Here's hoping that the new album, tentatively given a title of Strength In Numbers, is the one that gives them the attention they deserve.

Green Day - Very likely to release a record this year but it's unsure what kind of record they'll put on. My money is on a more maturer album with a mix of the musical styles of Warning with the biting political lyrics of American Idiot. Other rumours include that it will be a psychedelic record or a straight up punk record but I think that is increasingly unlikely.

The Verve - What I would want is very simple. A record as good as Urban Hymns but without all the solo crap that Richard Ashcroft terrorised us with. If they can come up with a very balanced record with epic, soft, and just plain groovy songs then all will be well. If it isn't, it will make me think they reunited for the money.

Franz Ferdinand
The Music
Green Day
The Verve

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Green Day hit middle age

Finally, Green Day have broken their silence and have spoken about the recording process for their 8th studio album. Billie Joe has said in Rolling Stone:

We have a lot of music - something like 45 songs... It's total chaos... I want to dig into who I am and what I'm feeling at this moment - which is middle-aged.

"We've been doing this for almost 20 years now. You want to make sure you're being honest with yourself. I also have to ask myself 'what's real out there?' Right now, it seems stagnant."

"I had some kid come up to me yesterday. He goes, 'When's your next record coming out?' And I was like, 'God, I don't know'."

He also added that the songs were written on piano instead of guitar. So what clues does this new information give us? I personally think it's going to be heading towards the direction they went for 'Warning', but perhaps more mellow and reflective.

It should be an interesting listen...whenever it comes out.

Rolling Stone feature
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