A year or so ago, On The Record predicted that one of the landmark releases of 2008 would be an U2 album. Not for the first time, On The Record was wrong.

2008, though, was still a year with many U2 headlines. First, there was the hefty revamp and reissue of the band's back-catalogue, albeit with poor sales for the lavishly-packaged CDs.

Then, there was that yarn about leaked recordings which surfaces every time there is a new album in the offing. This time, a fan was said to have taped new songs which Bono was blasting out from his house in France.

And finally, there are the ever-present rumours about live shows. The current ones include the story that U2 will do a secret show to launch the 02 venue in Dublin and talk of another three-night stand at Croke Park next summer.

Recording sessions for the album, which will kick-start all this activity, though, are still ongoing.

When Daniel Lanois was interviewed by The Ticketin May of this year, the producer said that recording for the album, which is believed to have a working title of No Line On The Horizon, still had a long way to go at that stage.

Talking this week to the Boston Herald, Lanois indicated that recording was still ongoing and that the new album would surprise fans. "The tracks are wildly innovative. I would never have thought things would have gone this way. I believe rock'n'roll has been reinvented one more time."

U2 could still take a leaf out of Radiohead and Bloc Party's book and rush-release the album before Christmas. However, it is far more likely that the album will be given an old-fashioned, all-bells-and- whistles release early in 2009.

That will be followed by a lengthy tour, which should allow their new partners at Live Nation to start recouping some of the huge advance given to the band earlier this year.

It hots up for Hannigan

There's no stopping the Lisa Hannigan bandwagon at present. The latest to fall for the Kilcloon, Co Meath singer are ATO Records, stadium rocker Dave Matthews's label.

They have just added Hannigan to a roster which already includes David Gray, Radiohead and My Morning Jacket and will be releasing her debut solo album, Sea Sew, in the US on January 20th.

The album has already sold nearly 14,000 copies in Ireland since its release in September.

Hannigan is currently rounding off an extensive US tour supporting Jason Mraz (she's in Milwaukee tonight) before returning home for dates at Cork's School of Music on December 12th and Dublin's Vicar Street the following night.

A community of sound

What's that sound? That's the sound of a dozen community organisations around the country making merry with their IRMA Trust musical starter kits. Each of the 12 groups will get instruments, equipment and a starter fund of €500 to enable them to assist new acts and musicians.

Recipients of the kits include the Youghal Youth Project, Co Monaghan VEC, RED South Dublin Arts Centre, Sligo's Model Arts and Niland Gallery, Roscommon's Phoenix Youth Centre and Kerry Diocesan Youth Service's Live Band Project.

ETC