The new R.E.M. album, Accelerate features 11 new tracks and marks the band's 14th studio effort. R.E.M. recorded the set over three weeks at a restored chapel at the University of Georgia and debuted most of the songs while on tour last summer.

The latest material finds R.E.M. returning to the harder, guitar-edged sound of its earlier years. Singer Michael Stipe told the Dallas Morning News they didn't set out to create a particular sound, explaining, "In terms of the material, we kind of went to the most obvious place. We wrote really fast songs and we tried to keep them really raw and in-your-face, and that's what we wound up with." Album reviews from critics have been generally positive. Newsday says the band "returns to greatness" with Accelerate, and the Canadian Press calls it the "best album in years." The New York Times describes it as an "album that should please R.E.M.'s old fans."

The Georgia group's last album, Around the Sun, came out in 2004. A live set was released this past fall.

The band will kick off a full North American tour on May 23rd in Burnaby, British Columbia. Modest Mouse and The National have been tapped as openers.