U2 wants to go in a totally different direction with new music, according to Bono.
In a new interview with The New York Times, the singer divulged that they’re nearly done with their new album Songs of Ascent but they’re “not putting [it] out” and instead want to “make our fuck-off rock ‘n’ roll album.”
He went on to clarify that they “didn’t scrap it, just held it,” so they could focus on this new sound.
“Over [our last] two albums, Songs of Innocence and [Songs of] Experience, our songwriting returned,” he explained.
“Now we need to put the firepower of rock ’n’ roll back.”
“I don’t know who is going to make our fuck-off rock ’n’ roll album. You almost want an AC/DC, you want Mutt Lange,” Bono continued, referring to the producer famous for working with AC/DC and Def Leppard.
“The discipline. The songwriting discipline. That’s what we want.”
As for the inspiration for making a “noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album,” Bono said it’s to “put the part of me, the anger that hasn’t been managed, to good use.”
He added that while he is “trying to make peace with myself and my maker, I have no intentions of making peace with the world. That’s not on the agenda. I like to think I have the freedom to be whatever I want. My anger at inequality became focused on a community far away from home. You know, you have to pick your fights.”
Bono is gearing up to publish his upcoming memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story on November 1.
He recently shared an excerpt where he takes “full responsibility” for U2’s infamous iTunes blunder.
