U2 discussed their next album Songs of Experience in a new MOJO interview (via ATU2). Bassist Adam Clayton discussed why the band haven’t released the album yet.
“There wasn’t clarity to some of the mixes [on Songs of Innocence] and we needed to be a little bit more inventive sonically. I mean, that record, when we performed it live, the songs became very, very masculine and very tough and we didn’t really capture that on the record. So again one of the reasons why we’re trying to slow this down a bit is we really want to get the mixes right. We don’t want a soup. We want a consommé.”
Adam says U2 is “at the 85 percent mark” of being finished, and has about 15-16 songs that need to be cut down to 12 for the new album.
Bono mentions a new song, “The Showman,” and says it’s his favorite at the moment. “It’s like something from Rubber Soul,” he says. “It’s about singers. It’s not me.” He quotes a few lyrics in the article:
The showman give you front row to his heart
The shaman prays that his heartache will chart
Making a spectacle of falling apart
Is the heart of the show
Other songs mentioned as likely for the new album are “The Best Thing About You Is Me,” [Ed. note: That’s how the magazine has it, but I think the “you” and “me” references should be reversed.] “The Little Things That Give You Away,” “Red Flag Day” and “Summer Of Love.” That last one is a new title that Bono describes as “achingly beautiful and empty.” He says it and “Red Flag Day” both reference the refugee crisis in Europe.
MOJO’s article reports that U2 is planning to release Songs Of Experience in the “latter half of 2017,” and the Innocence + Experience tour will resume in spring 2018.
