In May 2009, the band said that they were working on a fourth studio album. They planned it to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting.' They were taking themes and sounds from "Minutes to Midnight" He also mentioned that the album would have more experiments and advanced than their other albums. Bennington also confirmed that Rick Rubin will return as a producer of the new album.