U2 guitarist THE EDGE has provided a fresh insight into what fans can expect from the band’s forthcoming album, by claiming that “soul is the key element above anything”.
In an online interview with U2[/a] fan site [url=]www.atu2.com, The Edge also said they were toying with the idea of using samples and there would be “different sounds than what we’ve ever used before, different arrangement styles and… just a lot of experimentation”.
But fans will have a long wait before they hear the results for themselves as the album is still some way from completion.
“I think that as with any U2 record, it is such an organic process – it’s changing week by week and I think that it’s gonna be a record that people play a lot.
“It’s not gonna be a record that people buy and have in their record collection, which unfortunately a lot of records seem to be these days. I think it’s a band-centred record, meaning that everything that will go on the record started out from within the four members of the band working together. From there, you know we might well abstract a lot of the work in using sampling possibly – we haven’t gotten into the end game yet. I think that that core of the record, the heart-and-the-soul of it will be very much about the band.
“Style-wise, probably a big variety of different feels and styles – everything that sort of turns us on will be in there in some shape or form as always.”
In March, the band’s leader Bono had commented that heels were being dragged over the release of the follow-up to 1997’s ‘Pop’ because the foursome get “bored” trying to actually finish lyrics.
However, at that time Bono had hinted that an autumn release was probable as the band were about to select the best 10 or 12 songs from those available. The singer also commented that the album would be “very noisy, bursting with vitality and life-force”.
The Edge also remarked on the ongoing debate on the future of the music industry with the rise in availablity of MP3 downloads and the pace of technological development.
“My attitude is that it should be something that the music industry should welcome with open arms. I don’t have any of the sort of fears or paranoias that seem to be common amongst the music business. I think they’re in danger of actually falling so far behind what’s going on the Internet that they might actually just miss the boat, but um, it’s great. I mean there’s so many ways that it can develop and I’m sure there’s ways that no-one’s even thought of yet.”