U2's follow-up to No Line on the Horizon due this year

U2 have certainly had enough time to make two records. Five years have passed since their last album, and the interim saw the band work in studios across the world -- including a session in Turkey and an aborted project with Rick Rubin.

Bono still expects No Line on the Horizon to have "a bumpy ride." "It's very hard to be relevant," he explained. But although his band is getting older, they are also getting faster. With its 149 bpm tempo, "Get On Your Boots," U2's new single, is their toe-tappingest ever -- and is almost within range of drum 'n' bass.

Though U2 have become more prolific, fans shouldn't expect a major shift in their business practices. They are locked into a record deal with Universal for "several more albums," according to manager Paul McGuinness, and the Edge at least has no interest in self-releasing U2's work.

"My instinct is to stick with the record guys," he told the New York Times. "They have to sell your records or sell the downloads, whatever it ends up being. To do that, first of all you've got to love and understand the music, and right now I'm not seeing any group that rivals the record labels on that front."

The band's announcement of a second LP marks a substantial evolution from plans last year to release two EPs.

"About a year ago, we decided we wanted to put it out in November," Bono told the NME in a recent interview. "We were going to release two EP sets, Daylight and Darkness; we had all these ideas, but in the end we just took the best songs and made the one record."

Or rather, they made two.

© 2009 Guardian.