R.E.M. plans to give fans a taste of tracks from their upcoming album during a series of gigs in Dublin this summer.

In a statement posted Friday on the R.E.M. Web site, the band said it would hold a five-night “working rehearsal” for the album at Dublin’s Olympia Theater on June 30, July 1 and July 3-5.

Singer Michael Stipe said the concerts would provide “the great start we need for our next album’s work.”

“I intend to hit the ground running,” he said.

Stipe and bandmates Peter Buck and Mike Mills are due to begin work on the as-yet-untitled 14th album this spring with producer Jacknife Lee. It is expected to be out before the end of the year.

Formed in Athens, Georgia, almost 30 years ago, R.E.M. were college radio favorites in the 1980s with songs like “Radio Free Europe” and “Pretty Persuasion” before becoming mainstream stars with 1990s hits including “Losing My Religion” and “Everybody Hurts.”

Their 13th album, “Around the Sun,” was released in 2004. On the heels of 2004 album, which offered a dearth of rock songs, Mills said R.E.M. is “certainly aiming for a more live feel and maybe a little more up-tempo” approach this time around. “The trouble with making records is that you can plan all you want. But what we find is that the records tend to take on a life of their own, so it could go in any direction.”

R.E.M.’s new single, a cover of John Lennon’s “#9 Dream,” was released digitally earlier this month as the lead track from the Darfur benefit album “Instant Karma.” The track features original drummer Bill Berry for the first time since he retired from the band in 1997

(SD-Agencies)