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New U2 album 'within months' as Bono reveals new rock persona
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Bono performs at the Brit Awards 2009 held at Earls Court on February 18, 2009 in London, England.
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You wait five years for a U2 album, then two come along at once.
Their latest offering is still fresh on the shelves, but U2 yesterday revealed that their next effort could be in the shops within months.
Frontman Bono also said he knows what the first single from the next album, which would be a quick-fire follow-up to 'No Line On The Horizon', will be.
The new album will be called 'Songs of Ascent' and will be a sister album to their latest release -- a trick U2 already pulled with 'Achtung Baby' and 'Zooropa' and in the early 1990s.
Bono said that it would be a quieter album than the current effort, and the lead single will be called 'Every Breaking Wave', a track pulled from 'No Line On the Horizon' at the last minute.
"We're making a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent," he said, hinting it could arrive in the next year.
"It will have a clear mood, like [Miles Davis'] Kind of Blue. Or [John Coltrane's] A Love Supreme would be a point of reference, for the space it occupies in people's lives, which is to say, with that album, I almost take my shoes off to listen to it."
The quick follow-up would be in stark contrast to 'No Line On the Horizon' which saw recording sessions scattered over two years in five different countries, with four different producers.
"It is now easier and more affordable to record a song than at any other time in the history of recorded music," bassist Adam Clayton told the new edition of 'Rolling Stone' magazine. "Unless you're U2".
Bono and the Edge are also working on music for Julie Taymor's forthcoming Broadway musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'. The singer told the magazine that he is also hopeful of getting an album's worth of material out of the "spider songs".
"If we do, it'll be a monster, cause it's the most accessible music we've probably ever written."
He is also working on a new character 'Jesse' in the style of his 'Fly' and 'Mephisto' personas, which explains his recent appearance in eyeliner.
Revealing that the glam look was actually influenced by Elvis, he added: "It's still in development! I started just messing with it a few weeks ago."
Bono's desire to move on with future projects may be a direct response to the lukewarm reception for the band's current single 'Get On Your Boots'.
"I was going off the song myself for a minute," said Bono of the album's lead single. "And then the Grammys really put me back on it. I really enjoyed performing it. It's gonna take a little longer to stick.
"It was never an obvious first single . . . it's an earnest love song. That's what's beautiful about it."
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Wow, all this Belfast hate is felt all the way across the pond. Here in Baltimore we would be honored to have a band of epic levels (regardless of how many people like them). If you don't like them, find something better to do with your time then spread hate and bad news. If you don't like their new music, don't listen to it, listen to what you like and go support that band instead of hating.
Posted by Aaron | 06.03.09, 15:47 GMT
Alb Turner - what a rant. Cool your beans. People are entitled to leave their opinion. As for Bozo not caring what people think of him - you're right but only because he cares too much about himself. I can see him now trying different looks in his pocket mirror, trying new expressions and applying his eyeliner. LOL I personally think he's stuck in a minute he cant get out of!
Posted by Bones | 06.03.09, 11:56 GMT
Well said Alb! The problem is people in this country don't like it when someone gets 'too big for their boots', it's why anyone with any talent, ambition and vision gets out of this place.
Posted by Paul | 06.03.09, 10:30 GMT
I guess you cared enough to read the article and post a comment twice, Sue. I am pleased U2 finally have another album out, even though "Get on your boots" is a poor choice for a single. The band has been an enduring presence in an increasingly shallow and short-term music industry. U2 is one of the best things to have come out of Ireland and we should be proud of them.
Posted by Jon | 06.03.09, 09:42 GMT
Wow - what a bitter lot you all are. Do you guys eat your own or what? Ireland gets an actually genuine super group who make a lasting difference on music and culture around the world - who at least attempt to stay original - and whose front man actually spends a lot of his own time and money trying to fight for a dying starving continent - and actually arguably - gets results for millions suffering by rallying divisive factions into action and what do you do? You impale him on a pole of your own cynicism and apathy. What kind of celebrity would you prefer? One - like the vastly great majority - who only work for their own careers and keep all their goals, time, and money, and results for themselves? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Good thing Bono doesn't care too much you think of him, he's quite busy actually - trying to help people and enjoy life in his band, while you stew from the sidelines.
Posted by Alb Turner | 05.03.09, 20:58 GMT
who cares!!!!
Posted by sue | 05.03.09, 19:16 GMT
who cares!!!!
Posted by sue | 05.03.09, 19:15 GMT
To Michael Falkes. I for one don't refer to him as either a "Rock Star" or as a "Pop Star". And I doubt the good folk at the Belfast Telegraph would allow me to print what I refer to him as.
Posted by Barry | 05.03.09, 16:47 GMT
U2 have lost it, they spent nearly 30 years shouting about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and didn't once during the Bush administration complain about the invasion of Iraq, I'm sure there are plenty of "bodies strewn across dead end streets" in Baghdad. I don't know why everyone refers to him as a "Rock Star" when he and his band are actually "Pop Stars".
Posted by Michael Falkes | 05.03.09, 15:15 GMT
Wow two albums of the same guitar riff that the've been pedalling for the past 30 years at the same time!!? What have we done to deserve this Mr. Hewson? Also gives him double the oppertunity to act the deity. There's an old cliche about artists suffering for their art. Why do we have suffer for Bono's?
Posted by Barry | 05.03.09, 14:46 GMT
Another U2 album? Does this mean we have to endure the past few weeks all over again in a few months time?
Posted by terry | 05.03.09, 14:13 GMT
He does look like an ejit, that Get on your Boots single is terrible. On your toes Bono jog on, your in danger of becoming a carricature.
Posted by Michael | 05.03.09, 10:51 GMT
Leave the eyeliner alone Bonehead - it's not a good look!
Posted by Moopay | 05.03.09, 10:24 GMT