Well, the news has started to surface about R.E.M.’s upcoming album. Michael Stipe – who declared the release a “great fucking album” – said recently that the band’s 14th studio release will come out on April 1.

That’s probably no joke because April Fool’s Day is a Tuesday, the usual release day for new music in the U.S. One can only wonder, however, if the band has some sort of message in the release date or if they are just having fun.

The only thing to give me pause is the fact that the band’s first (and only so far) announced live date in 2008 falls three weeks before April 1. But considering the band took the unusual site of working on their new songs in five live shows in Dublin earlier this year, I have a hard time believing they would only base their release date on their touring plans. R.E.M. has earned the right to basically do whatever the hell they want over the past 27 years.

If you can’t wait the just under 100 days until the album comes out, you can visit a special web site starting on New Year’s Day to get your fix. Ninetynights.com will debut a video teaser each day until April 1.