Veteran alt-rockers R.E.M. will be back in the studio in September to work on their latest masterpiece. The bandís crockery-breaking guitarist Pete Buck expects the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2001ís Reveal to be available around the middle of 2003. Also in the works is an R.E.M. world tour. According to NME, Buck wants to take the band to Japan and Australia, as they have had tremendous success there in the past, but have not visited in seven years. A full-scale tour was never launched in support of Reveal, so the aging rockers should be well-rested and ready for a global assault.
