As dmg said, it's just a way of getting MK in the news until the album release,
This is really, really harsh.
MK has always done loads for charity, including being the first person to sign up for Live Aid when no one else would, so to say that he has put all this work in over several years just to get a couple of headlines for a new album is WAY off base.
It's harsh, but it's just my point of view.
I know Mark has always done a lot of charity, and I didn't put that into question. I was just saying that project was announced now in order to benefit from the media exposure. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and it probably wasn't MK's decision, but his management team.
In "Under The Volcano" documentary Mark admitted, while sitting in his studio, that "every recording studio has a shelf life". He would often hint at the fact it's incredibly difficult to maintain as well. He's indeed extremely brave to have a recording studio in the era of home recording, streaming and piracy.
The wealth of musicians is overly exaggerated as well, they NEED money. Imagine their high overheads — having multiple kids, multiple homes, recording studios, collections of cars, collections of guitars, teams of dozens of people, marketing, managers, techs, etc.
It all makes sense from a marketing and financial perspective, the only thing we (fans) can complain about it sometimes this "no rush" thing takes way too much time.