U2 Previews New Song On Official Website!

NEW YORK (U2 Official Website/Top40 Charts) - U2 is now previewing a new song, "The Hands That Built America," on the band's official website, u2.com. The site offers a video clip of the group in the studio at work on what is reportedly the foursome's first recording since the end of the All That You Can't Leave Behind tour.

The song actually had its first public unveiling last May 13 at New York's Tribeca Film Festival to promote the Martin Scorsese film Gangs Of New York, set for release on Christmas Day, 2002. The song is featured on the soundtrack. The band's performance from Ireland was broadcast to festival attendees and shot by director Maurice Linnane for video use.

While various fan sites have batted around rumors of a fast follow-up to the band's last album, this is the first evidence of any recordings. Earlier this year (4/03), longtime U2 co-producer Daniel Lanois confirmed the release of a second best-of compilation in the fall, which may include several new recordings.

Back in 1978, another Irish band out of Dublin, the folk-rock outfit Horslips, released an album called The Man Who Built America. So far, there are no reports whether this new song's title is a nod to the title track of that album.