The Edge Says U2 Is Working on 'Zooropa'-Like New Album For 2016

Add U2 to the list of high-profile 2016 albums. In a recent interview with Q, Bono and The Edge both confirmed they’re hard at work on the band’s follow-up to 2014’s Songs of Innocence and that it is expected to arrive before the year is through.

The Edge told Q (via DIY) the band’s recent creative process reminds him of the period that birthed their 1993 album Zooropa, which found influence in dance music just outside their comfort zone. (Zooropa producer Brian Eno) would love to see us making albums a bit more like that,” the Edge said, “Where we go, ‘You know what? We’re not going to second-guess any of this. Let’s just go for it.’ I think there’s a quality you get when there’s a certain momentum to the process.”

U2 has been experimenting and just going with it.

In September, Bono told The Irish Times that U2 was “going after a broken cassette recorder type of sound” on one song, which would seem to fit the bill.

“The gift of [my 2014 cycling accident] was that I had time to write while in the mentality that you get to at the end of an album,” Bono chimed in for the Q story. “There is a reason why all the great groups made their best albums while in and around touring, because the ideas have to come out of your head.”

So there you have it -- brace yourselves for a fresher, looser U2. They also helped Eagles of Death Metal retake the stage following the 2015 Paris attacks, so don't be surprised if those events find their way into the album too.