R.E.M. [ tickets ]--whose October plans already include the release of a new album and a round of shows with Bruce Springsteen--will also launch a headlining jaunt that month.

The veteran group kicks off the run in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, and dates are set through the end of November. Tickets are expected roll out the market from mid-August through mid-September.

The 29-date tour follows the Oct. 5 release of "Around the Sun," R.E.M.'s first new studio set since 2001's "Reveal." The new album's first single--which hasn't yet surfaced--is titled "Leaving New York," according to the band's website.

At the same time that "Around the Sun" is arriving in stores, R.E.M. will be in the midst of the Vote for Change Tour, an early October trek that touches down in states where this November's presidential election is expected to be a close call. The run actually comprises six simultaneous mini-tours that take place from Oct. 1-8; R.E.M. shares the bill with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, John Fogerty and Bright eyes.

"R.E.M. is very happy to be a part of the Vote for Change Tour," bassist Mike Mills said in a statement. "This unprecedented coming together of musicians underscores the depth of the desire for change in our country's direction, and it feels right to use some of the freedoms granted to us in a democracy to try and effect that change."