R.E.M. is set to release Accelerate on April 1st. Even though I haven’t really liked anything they’ve put out since Up (a vastly underrated album, by the way), I still get excited with news of a new CD and tour.

They’ve released the first single and video, “Supernatural Superserious”.

R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious

So far, so good. While not a fantastic song, it does seem like a nice start. Does R.E.M. have another quality album left in them? Perhaps!

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=_We6ubpUHZs]

When did R.E.M. resort to putting out generic videos like this? They don’t even look the slightest bit interested. One redeeming quality, perhaps, is that you can go to the “Supernatural Superserious” website and mix your own version of the video using the 10 takes available. Be warned, though, don’t attempt to access the site on an older computer. R.E.M. has built the site to destroy your feeble machine.

Looks like they have a nice little tour going; Anyone want to give me a ride to Chicago? Or perhaps a flight to Prague? Hey Peter, you’ve been to The Dame. Want to come back and play a show? I’m seeing a few open dates in there…

SAT 3/8 – Langerado Festival – Big Cypress, FL
WED 3/12 – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q – Austin, TX
MON 3/24 – Royal Albert Hall – London, UK
FRI 5/23 – Deer Lake Park – Vancouver, BC
THU 5/29 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA
SAT 5/31 – The Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
TUE 6/3 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Denver, CO
FRI 6/6 – United Center – Chicago, IL
SUN 6/8 – Molson Amphitheatre – Toronto, ONT
TUE 6/10 – Walnut Creek Amphitheatre – Raleigh, NC
WED 6/11 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Washington, D.C.
FRI 6/13 – Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts – Boston, MA
SAT 6/14 – Jones Beach Theatre – Long Island, NY
WED 6/18 -Mann Center for the Performing Arts – Philadelphia, PA
THU 6/19 – TBA – New York, NY
SUN 6/21 – Lakewood Amphitheatre – Atlanta, GA
SUN 7/2 – Westerpark – Amsterdam, Netherlands
SUN 7/9 – Theatre De Verdure – Nice, France
SAT 7/15 – Elbufer – Dresden, Germany
SUN 7/16 – Waldbuhne – Berlin, Germany
TUE 7/18 – City Square – Locarno, Switzerland
THU 7/20 – Umbria Jazz Festival - Perugia, Italy
FRI 7/21 – Arena – Verona, Italy
SAT 7/23 – Neapolis Festival – Naples, Italy
SUN 7/24 – Villa Manin – Udine, Italy
TUE 7/26 – Arena Civica – Milan, Italy
SUN 8/17 – Slavia Stadium – Prague, Czech Republic
TUE 8/19 – Ehrenhof – Stuttgart, Germany
WED 8/20 – Loreley – Rhine, Germany
FRI 8/22 – Marienfeste – Wurzburg, Germany
WED 9/3 – Ullevaal Stadium – Oslo, Norway
THU 9/4 – Koengen Stadium – Bergen, Norway
SAT 9/6 – Parken Stadium – Copenhagen, Denmark
SUN 9/7 – Stadium – Stockholm, Sweden
MON 9/9 – Finnair Stadium – Helsinki, Finland

Click here to preorder this album.