Red Hot Chili Peppers to Release New Album

This one's been long overdue! The Red Hot Chili Peppers are finally getting ready to release a new album, the follow-up to 2006's Stadium Arcadium.

From NME.com:

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith has said that the band are "halfway through" finishing their new album. The as-yet untitled studio effort is being produced by Rick Rubin.

"We're probably halfway through the record," the drummer told MusicRadar.com. "I think we've tracked about 20 songs already, and there's a few more left to do. Then we'll whittle them down to make the best record."

"We always cut a lot of songs and see which ones rise and which ones fall - that's just how we like to work," he continued. "But the new one won't be a double album like 'Stadium Arcadium', I can tell you that."

As for a release date, Smith added that the group are hoping it will be out in spring next year.

"We'd like to try to deliver the album in March," he explained. "We're definitely hoping to have it out by next summer. It's been a long time in coming."

The group's 10th studio album will be the first to feature new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. He replaced John Frusciante, who left the group last year.

Meanwhile, Smith also revealed that the band already "have festival dates booked for the summer of 2011", although didn't go into detail about which events they were confirmed to appear at.