Soundbites: U2, Elbow Track Review, Ringo Starr & more!

In today’s Soundbites, our weekly take on news, reviews and tabloid gossip, there’s a look at Elbow’s new single, rumours of the identity of Velvet Revolver’s latest singer, and U2’s possible album release date. Elsewhere, Ringo Starr goes all 21st century and Fleet Foxes get ready to release their new album.

With Velvet Revolver recently confirming their search for a new singer has been successful, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has set tongues wagging by suggesting he may be the man Slash and co have turned to. When asked by Billboard about the possibilty of him joining Velvet Revolver, Taylor was said to remark “to be continued,” before letting out ‘a long, hearty laugh.’

The internet has been rife with rumours this week that U2‘s new studio album could be set for a May release date after popular online retailer Amazon’s German division listed the date of issue as May 27th. The U2 camp was quick to dampen fans’ hopes however, quickly releasing a statement to NME.com which read: “As has been widely reported U2 are in the studio working on a new record but no release date has been set.”

Ahead of the release of ‘The Seldom Seen Kid‘, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey claimed the band would consider packing it all in if they failed to make any waves with the impending record. Fast forward two-and-a-bit years, and with a Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards, Ivor Novellos and God knows how many other nominations to their name, those early threats never came close to being seriously considered.

Elbow were already one of the best bands of their generation before the mainstream success came along and, as recent promo ‘Lippy Kids‘ proved, they’re not about to let a smash-hit album spoil any of that. UK readers can check out the brand new video for ‘Neat Little Rows‘ below, a track which adds to the belief ‘Lippy Kids‘ provided that they may have managed to reach even higher levels of brilliance on ‘Build a Rocket Boys‘.

The Beatles legend Ringo Starr could be set for a surprise move into the world of computer games after it emerged he has recently filed for a trademark for the name ‘Ringo’ which will create software and downloadable computer games via the internet and wireless devices. According to reports, Ringo will reveal all at the SXSW Interactive festival in May.

After numerous delays and false starts, Fleet Foxes have finally confirmed their new album is to be released on April 29th via Sub Pop records which, despite rumours of a working title of ‘Deepwater Horizon‘, will in fact be named ‘Helplessness Blues‘.