U2 to release new album in 'early 2011'

U2 WILL have a new album out early in the new year, the band's manager Paul McGuinness has said. McGuinness said the band has already debuted several of the songs live, including Mercy, Every Breaking Wave,and Boys Fall from the Sky. The album has been provisionally titled Songs of Ascent.

“I would expect a new U2 album sooner than anybody thinks. I would guess early 2011 before the next leg of the American tour which starts in May,” he said.

McGuinness defended sales figures for U2's last album No Line on the Horizon, which he said had held up "remarkably well" despite the perception that the record had been a flop.

It sold "roughly" five million copies, while its 2004 predecessor How to Dismantle an Atomic Bombhad sold twice that number.

He said record sales across the industry had declined by half because of illegal downloading.

McGuinness accused internet service providers such as UPC of being “utterly disingenuous” in stating that they could not be responsible for the behaviour of their customers.