R.E.M. [ tickets ] has launched an online marketing campaign to create an interactive experience for fans and generate awareness of their new album, "Accelerate," which is scheduled for an Apr. 1 debut, according to a press release. The promotion includes four new websites, each with a specific purpose.

The site www.remdublin.com was created in June 2007 prior to the band's live rehearsals at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, where they debuted new music. Fans were able write their own reviews and post photos from the shows. Fans also may post links to videos recorded at any R.E.M. performance in Dublin on this site.

The second site, www.ninetynights.com, was created Jan. 1 and counts down the time to the album's physical release date by posting a new high-resolution video snippet each day that can be downloaded, edited and manipulated to create one's own personalized video journal.

In February, the band launched www.supernaturalsuperserious.com, a site for the first single, "Supernatural Superserious," that offers visitors an opportunity to download 10 takes from a video shoot and edit their own versions of the video, which then can be posted on a YouTube page.

The site www.remaccelerate.com features artwork, track lists, information on pre-ordering the album, audio and video for the single "Supernatural Superserious," and tour info, among other features.

R.E.M., fresh off a Mar. 12 gig at Stubb's Bar-B-Que in Austin during South by Southwest, will debut "Accelerate" online exclusively via iLike, which will stream the album in its entirety beginning Mar. 24 for six days.

The band also announced it plans to tour North America and Europe starting May 23 in Vancouver, B.C. Tickets for the European dates, including a Mar. 23 show at Royal Albert Hall in London, are available at the band's main website.