U2 are currently "beginning the processes" towards the follow up to 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in the south of France, and Bono, speaking to UK's The Independent, feels the new record's influences and subsequent sound may catch longtime fans a little off guard. "We did some recording in Morocco last year. All the band went to an amazing religious music festival in Fez with some incredible sufi singers," the rocker cum humanitarian said. "It was a real humbling thing for a punk rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies."

Further commenting on the experience, Bono said: "We got this little riad, a small hotel with a courtyard in the middle and set up the band there, with a square of sky over our head. The two great catalysts of U2's recording life, [producers] Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, joined us. We'd record during the day and then disappear into windy streets of the medina at night. It was an inspiring experience and a drummer's paradise."

But don't fret, fans of 1997's Pop, for the forthcoming LP isn't all world music, and may even heat up the dance floor. "Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dance floor," Bono claimed. "And that may not be true of this [new material]. There's some trance influences. But there's some very hardcore guitar coming out of the Edge. Real molten metal. It's not like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either." [Via NME.com]

Tom Petty Billed for Superbowl Halftime Show

Though chances are slim he'll cover a Foo Fighters track or rock out in the purple rain as phallic undertones accompany his wicked solos a la Prince's 2007 show, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform during the much-coveted Superbowl halftime show in 2008, Billboard.com reports. The game, slated to hit the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona Feb. 3, attracts unprecedented ratings as some 140 million Americans tuned in last year.

Pete Doherty Names Amy Winehouse Collaboration

England's favorite tabloid stars, Pete Doherty, disheveled frontman of post-punk outfit Babyshambles, and Amy Winehouse, the perpetually addled Back to Black songbird, have joined forces, and the product oddly isn't a 12-day drug binge -- it's a song! Enjoying her time off the road, Winehouse teamed up with Doherty in his countryside home, and the result could be quite gushy. "We were working on something last night actually," Doherty told NME.com. "It's called 'You Hurt the Ones You Love.'" Though no further details regarding the collaboration have yet been revealed, the tune, with a title like that, is certainly a familiar topic for both of these soured lovebirds.

Tamborello Remixes Silversun Pickups on EP

Remixes are all the rage these days. From Beck to Bloc Party to NIN, musicians and DJs are lending their tunes to their pals' creative vision. And now, Los Angeles-based alt-rockers Silversun Pickups join the ranks with Remixes, an aptly titled six-tune EP featuring interpretations from the likes of Postal Service and Dntel blipmaster Jimmy Tamborello. According to Filter magazine's website, the set will drop in the U.S. Dec. 11 via iTunes, and will feature mixes of two tunes from the band's breakout debut Carnavas courtesy of the One AM Radio, Jason Bentley, Brian LeBarton, and greyarea.

Remixes tracklisting:

1. "Lazy Eye" - Jimmy Tamborello
2. "Little Lovers So Polite" - greyarea
3. "Lazy Eye" - Jason Bentley
4. "Lazy Eye" - Brian Lebarton
5. "Little Lovers So Polite" - One AM Radio
6. "Lazy Eye" - Jimmy Tamborello