It's a shame, quotes like that make it all the more frustrating that they don't release stuff in a clever way. We've had Edge saying "We almost don’t want to wait until we put a new CD together", Adam saying "we don't want to go away for long, we're considering an EP", and of course the "we're not sure how to release it" excuse to cover an album delay.
It's like they say these things to tease fans, and act really clever and daring to the media, but when it comes down to it, after 2 years of promising a follow up, after debuting 6 songs live in 2010, they're still probably gonna have a 4-5 year gap between NLOTH and the next album, and then release something in a conventional lead single-album way. It's really frustrating to see them tease innovation, but never actually embrace it... it makes them look old, like they can't push the envelope anymore, or like they're afraid to.
I honestly think a small EP would work wonders for them - keep the remainder of the tour fresh, and cut the gap between 'big' albums in half. Keeping the EP small, and having it be released mid-tour, only a couple of years since their last album, takes away so much of the pressure, and would be such a great gesture for the fans.
Glastonbury is a great opportunity to do such an EP. Release it before the NA leg, have Glasto, a couple of club songs (we know they rock, based on what they played last night), a couple of DM tunes, and have the general public have a chance to listen to them before glastonbury is played at... glastonbury.