Trent's answer seems very different from the article's own statement that he has a new album he could "release any time." Combined with them claiming Trent was a heroin addict (which he has always said he wasn't) I don't know if it's worth putting much stock in anything that isn't a direct quote from Trent.
That said I totally expect at least a single by the end of the year, leading into a full album later on.
I do kind of hope it's a little more externally focused, like Year Zero but maybe not as married to a concept as much as YZ was. Hesitation Marks really seemed like "Well, here's the last I can say about the same personal issues I've always had," and while I loved it, it seemed like maybe the last full bucket of water from that well before the thing starts to really go dry. There's only so much talk of things inside of him that make life hard that I think he can sing about, and he sure has ... covered the vast majority of them, to say the least. I'm all for something a bit more abstract or outward.