Sinead O'Connor will be focusing on the new rather than the old during her first North American concert tour in seven years.

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The controversial Irish singer, still best-known for ripping a photo of Pope John Paul II on TV in 1992, says her decision to record religious and spiritual music rather than pop in the future means her older material will be left behind for this tour.

"I've come out of the rock and pop arena," she explains. "I'm not going to be performing any of my older songs. I don't associate with that at all. If you're coming to this tour, you're not going to hear 'Nothing Compares 2 U' or 'Mandinka.'"

O'Connor's latest album is "Throw Down Your Arms," a set of reggae covers with a Rastifarian leaning. She's in the midst of recording "Theology," an album of all-new songs she describes as "purely acoustic."

O'Connor begins her tour Monday in Minneapolis and will play 10 shows, finishing on Dec. 10.