The Edge has hinted that new material from U2 will be arriving “very soon”, and that the band are looking into organising some live shows.
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The guitarist gave an update about new music from the band during a recent interview on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast, and confirmed that a new single may be dropping imminently.
“There might be a new song happening very soon, which you’ll hear about. Can’t say any more than that. We’re in a great place creatively,” he said.
He also added that the band have gotten into the habit of presenting finished sections to one another during the writing process, so they can focus on material that can be fully fleshed out rather than something that is “never going to work”.
“I sort of tricked myself. I was going, ‘OK, this is for The Edge solo album, so [I] can’t be, like, leaving these things half-finished. It doesn’t have to have finished lyrics, but it needs to really hang together. And that extra discipline, I think, has been very useful,” he said.
“I’ve been just working on so much material, and now that we’re doing some U2 sessions with that material, it looks like it’s paying off,” The Edge continued. “We still might end up changing it around a lot, but we’re not gonna be wasting our time on an idea that was never going to work.”
The last new music U2 shared arrived in 2023 in the form of the standalone single ‘Atomic City’. Last year, however, they did share some previously unheard material that was recorded in 2004. This came as a song called ‘Happiness’ that first came together during the sessions for the band’s 2004 album ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’.
Later in the recent interview, The Edge said that the band were eager to embark on more live shows following the completion of their huge ‘U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere’ residency at the Las Vegas Sphere.
“We’re hoping to get to do some shows,” he said. “We did the Vegas run, which was fantastic, but we didn’t get to see much of the world. We’re looking forward to hooking up with our fans where they live, as opposed to them having to come to us.”
This isn’t the first time that the guitarist has shared insight into new material from U2. Back in November, he shared an update on the next U2 album, claiming that it will not be “a straight-up rock thing”.
“I guess we’re at that great honeymoon period of a lot of experimentation, and looking at all kinds of possible themes musically,” he revealed. “I think the guitar will be a big part of the next record, but I don’t think it’s going to be a heavy rock album. I think it’s going to be a very different kind of use of the guitar, not a straight-up rock thing.”
Hints from the band about potential new music on the way stem back to 2023 too, shortly after they kicked off their huge residency in Las Vegas. Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, frontman Bono and The Edge said they had enough ideas ready for over 100 new songs.
“Well, I think new music, new tunes,” the latter said. “There’s a lot that we have ready and some that need a little dusting off, but will be ready soon. I tell you, we’ve got some amazing new songs. Really exciting.”
Bono added: “Edge has about 100 in the bag. I have about 20… but [bassist] Adam [Clayton]’s got something to contribute.”
Just weeks ago, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. opened up about his recovery from an injury – which forced him to take time off from the band –and shared what fans can expect from new material. “I don’t think it will be what we normally do. I would hope it would be something different. But I’m excited to get back in some capacity,” he said, going on to hint at a 2026 tour.
In a separate interview with The Edge back in November, the guitarist revealed that U2 are now recording new music with the returning drummer, as well as teaming up with Bono and Brian Eno for “some crazy kind of sci-fi Irish folk music”.
Whether that material will be part of U2’s next album, Edge said, “We’re not sure yet, we’ll see,” before expanding: “Part of our kind of process is to go so widely away from, off track, and the sort of the process of bringing things back on track is kind of how you get sort of unique sounding music.”
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