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The interview comes just after the 20th anniversary and 2024 reissue of U2’s ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’, now titled ‘How to Reassemble an Atomic Bomb’. This reissue includes a second “shadow album” of previously unreleased tracks which had been left on the cutting room floor. Fans reacted enthusiastically, especially to the song ‘Evidence of Life’ which harked back to the post-punk sound of their first three albums.

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The award winning podcast explores how some of the most famous musicians go about recording, and their creative processes. On themes and concepts, The Edge said “sometimes it’s sonic, sometimes it’s lyrical. But we’re always looking for that thing we can use as our North Star.” 

The episode also touched on the band’s six-month residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, which comprised 40 shows and grossed over $100 million, breaking various records in the process. Evans described the experience as “fantastic,” though he regretted not having the opportunity to take the show on the road and see the world. The show was a critical success as well as a commercial one, with USA Today’s Melissa Ruggieri saying “It’s fair to wonder if such a gargantuan production eclipses a band. Not this [band]”. 

The residency marked U2’s first major live performances without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who was recovering from surgery. Bram van den Berg, drummer of Krezip, stood in for Mullen. In a November interview with The Toronto Star, The Edge confirmed that Mullen is recovering and has already participated in recent recording sessions. “Larry’s feeling good, and he’s playing well.” 

Exploring U2’s storied career, The Edge acknowledged their evolution from politically charged punk roots to the experimental sounds of albums in the 90s, but failed to mention ‘The Joshua Tree’. The 1987 release, often hailed as their greatest work, was heavily influenced by producer Brian Eno’s soundscape work and explored themes of mythical America, and along with ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, moved them away from the sound of their early albums.

Their last album of original material, ‘Songs of Experience’, was released in 2017, and their last live show in the UK was in 2018. While The Edge’s comments aren’t exactly an official announcement, they have sparked excitement among fans. Discussions on the U2 subreddit suggest high hopes for a potential release, though some caution against momentum being lost if a single isn’t followed by an album or tour.

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This news comes just days after Bono was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden. Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, was recognised for his contributions to charitable causes, with his efforts focused on poverty in Africa, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

With The Edge hinting at new U2 music, fans are left speculating about what the next chapter holds for a band that has been recording together for nearly half a century, and will be excited to hear more about this upcoming release.

The single had been heard briefly when the band were shooting the music video at their surprise concert earlier this month (September 16th) at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, where up to 250 fans and extras congregated in the city’s Fremont Street for the special occasion. An apt setting for the music video to take place, as “Atomic City” is Vegas themed song, with lyrics such as “I’m free, so unexpectedly. I’m free from what’s in front of me!” and “I’ve got the key to the cages, waiting for my dice. I came here for the fight/I’m front row in Las Vegas. And there’s a big one on tonight”.

The new single was produced by Jacknife Lee and Steve Lillywhite and recorded at Sound City in LA, and as Bono told the audience at the band’s surprise Las Vegas show, “This is the world premiere of ‘Atomic City,’ a rock’n’roll 45-inch tradition of late 70s post-punk if you are interested…Blondie, The Clash.”

The song’s title is also a direct nod to the famous Nevada city, as ‘Atomic City’ was a nickname for Las Vegas in the 1950’s due to how close it was to the Nevada Test Site – dedicated to the testing of nuclear devices.

“Atomic City” was dropped on the same day (September 29th) U2 begin their very special residency at Las Vegas’ brand new MSG Sphere venue, where, throughout their run of shows, the Irish rockers will be performing their 1991 album Achtung Baby in full. U2’s residency will be the first shows played on the new Vegas stage.

In addition to U2’s residency at the MSG Sphere, the band also launched the immersive ‘Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience’ recently on September 28th. The experience is a fan portal that aims to help fans gather a deeper understanding of Achtung Baby.

It is not yet known whether “Atomic City” will feature on U2’s as of yet unannounced upcoming album, however the band’s guitarist The Edge has created excitement around their new music as he shared with Guitar Player magazine “I’ve been working a lot on new guitar music, and I’m very excited about it. It’s at that prototype stage where … who knows?. I’m finding myself for the first time in a little while getting very excited about the electric guitar again. Maybe it’s something to do with the lockdown, having the time to not do very much.”

Following Songs of Surrender, U2’s acoustic, stripped down project released in March 2023, The Edge has professed an excitement to return to electric guitar. Speaking to Guitar Player on his perspective on electric guitar, he said, “I know the answer to that. I’ve been working a lot on new guitar music, and I’m very excited about it. It’s at that prototype stage where… who knows? But the answer to the question is ‘yes.’ I’m finding myself for the first time in a little while getting very excited about the electric guitar again.”

Aside from sharing an enthusiasm to return to electric guitar-based music, The Edge hasn’t given much away on what fans can expect from the U2’s new work yet. But, speaking on U2’s goal as a band, he shared, “Our challenge was always to get to that guy at the back of the room, somebody who isn’t really a fan or isn’t paying attention.”

Speaking on the thought process behind Songs of Surrender, The Edge said, “There was always an intense pitch to our music early on. So my thought here was, ‘Let’s take minimalism to the nth degree, if it’s appropriate.’ And on a lot of these songs, it worked. We left just the bare skeletons of the original arrangements in terms of themes and hooks, taking things down to a really light touch.”

Despite The Edge giving little away on the band’s musical plans moving forwards, frontman Bono has shared his thoughts on the direction that U2 had been moving in recently, and where they want to go from there.

Bono reflected, “We all make mistakes. The progressive-rock virus gets in, and we needed a vaccine. The discipline of our songwriting, the thing that made U2 — top-line melody, clear thoughts — had gone.”

He continued, “With the band, I was like, this is not what we do, and we can only do that experimental stuff if we have the songwriting chops. So we went to songwriting school, and we’re back and we’re good! Over those two albums, ‘Songs Of Innocence and Experience’, our songwriting returned. Now we need to put the firepower of rock ‘n’ roll back.”

Speaking on his plans for U2’s next rock project, Bono said, “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. The approach. The discipline. The songwriting discipline. That’s what we want.”

U2 had been promoting the release of Songs of Ascent, an album that has been in the works since 2009. Bono shared in 2022 that this album is nearly complete, however its release has been put on hold in favour of releasing a “a noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album” first.

Stream U2’s newest album, Songs of Surrender, here:

President @ZelenskyyUa invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that’s what we’ve come to do. — Bono and The Edge #StandWithUkraine

— U2 (@U2) May 8, 2022

The pair’s performance drew a large crowd of both soldiers and civilians, and many audience members filmed the special event and shared the videos on social media. The Irish rockers showcased a set list which included their 1987 megahit “With Or Without You”. The pair also performed other beloved hits such as “Desire”, “Vertigo” and “Angel of Harlem” in addition to a rendition of the Ben E King classic “Stand By Me”, within the lyrics the duo replaced “Me” with “Ukraine”.

During the cover, the pair were joined by a special guest, Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia. The 34-year-old singer songwriter is from the Ukrainian band Antytila and became a solder when the country became invaded. Throughout the concert, Bono and The Edge were also joined onstage by other Ukrainian musicians who were forced to join the military due to the ongoing conflict.

Speaking to the audience Bono gave the supportive message, “The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom, We pray that you will enjoy some of that peace soon.” The 61-year-old activist and singer continued to rally the crowd, “This evening, 8 May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you’ll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride,”

Bono recently spoke with Mark Austin from Sky News whilst visiting Borodyanka, a Ukrainian town which became occupied by Russian forces several weeks ago. Within the interview, the singer gave his opinion on the unfolding conflict and stated that he felt that “younger people in Russia will know what’s going on“, he continued to add that he has faith “in the younger people in Russia to throw this man” to evict Putin from his position.

He proceeded to discuss the struggles of Borodyanka’s population, “You can’t ever really have a sense of what these people have been through, I’m not sure words can fully express what they’ve been through.” Bono continued, “The story I wanted to tell today… is how many Ukrainians died fighting fascism, fighting the Nazis: nearly eight million. And then to be called fascists is just ridiculous.”

The surprise concert is not the only form of support in which members of U2 have participated within; earlier in the year the band released the song “Walk On Ukraine”. The single highlighted the struggles and conflict in which has hit the country, the acoustic track is a revised version of the band’s hit “Walk On”. Throughout the band’s long career, they have become known for their philanthropy, in 2005 the Grammy-award winning group were given the Amnesty International Ambassador Of Conscience Award for their efforts in combining music with the fight for human rights.

Netflix and J.J. Abrams’ company are making a TV series about U2. https://t.co/nfTHDiIKXI

— ScreenCrush (@screencrushnews) March 18, 2022

The news comes a few months after Bono and co. announced that their next album was underway, and in addition, the release of a new song entitled “Your Song Saved My Life”, a tune that marked the band’s first material in two years, and features on the soundtrack to SING 2. The film also saw lead singer Bono make his animated screen debut as Clay Calloway, a rockstar lion. Prior to this, the singer’s only appearance in films had been as himself in documentaries, although he did appear in the beloved Sacha Baron Cohen film Brüno.

In years prior, the band have been the subject of numerous films and documentaries, such as the 2011 documentary From The Sky Down, the 2008 live performance film U2 3D, and 1988’s Rattle and Hum, which is a hybrid live/studio album by the band.

The ”Where The Streets Have No Name” quartet announced some details of their forthcoming new album, with guitarist The Edge stating in a November interview with NME: “We are firmly locked in the tower of song and working away on a bunch of new things,” he said. “I’m just having so much fun writing and not necessarily having to think about where it’s going to go. It’s more more about enjoying the experience of writing and having no expectations or limitations on the process.” He added, regarding prospective producers: “I so enjoyed working with [Dutch DJ] Martin Garrix [on the UEFA Euro 2020 song ‘We Are The People’] and I hope to work with him in the future. But we haven’t made any firm decisions on what the next thing will be in terms of personnel. I just don’t know.”

Presently, only a small amount of information regarding this forthcoming television series is known, with information initially being divulged primarily by The Hollywood Reporter.

IT’S AUCTION DAY for The Edge’s @musicrising #GuitarIcons auction! Kick off is 10am PST / 6pm GMT, Sat Dec 11. To watch the online auction and to find out how to bid, go to https://t.co/B9sRhzztuR. pic.twitter.com/YqGGJxxbYM

— U2 (@U2) December 11, 2021

The event saw numerous musicians offering their instruments to the auction. Notable examples include the sale of a bass used by Sir James Paul McCartney, dating back to his days in the classic seventies rock band Wings. The instrument, which is a Yamaha BB-1200 bass, sold for £374,905, becoming the highest-selling bass at an auction and beating the pre-existing record from 2020, when Bill Wyman (of The Rolling Stones) had his 1969 Fender Mustang bass sell for £290,190. It wasn’t the only record of the night, with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder having his smashed Lake Placid Blue Fender Telecaster (smashed by his own hand at a concert) become the highest-selling smashed guitar at an auction, going for £201,168.

Other artists whose instruments were auctioned include U2 bandmates Bono and Adam Clayton, with The Edge’s own Custom Strat from “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For“ getting over £370,000. Oasis’ Noel Gallagher and Coldplay’s Chris Martin also had success with their instruments, getting around £39,000 and £61,000 respectively. Other artists’ instruments that featured include Elton John, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Marr and Radiohead. If you want to read more about who was involved, you can look here and here.

In speaking on the event, The Edge had this to say: “We want to thank everyone involved in this amazing auction including the artists who generously gave their personal instruments and the bidders from around the globe who helped us break world records. The proceeds Music Rising earned will help bring live music back to life in a part of the country whose musical culture has been hugely influential in the world. We are indebted to all of the supporters of Music Rising who have given us a great opportunity to return to our roots and help those musicians in need.“

Ezrin also said that “We are so thankful to all of the artists, supporters and bidders who helped make Guitar Icons an auction for the history books. New Orleans musicians are the custodians of a unique music heritage, passing it down through the generations and influencing so many genres of music we enjoy. The proceeds from this auction will help musicians from the region who suffered financially through this pandemic.”

The lineup includes; Glen Hansard, Bono, The Edge, Imelda May, Hozier, John Sheahan, Finbar Furey, Shane MacGowan, Danny O’Reilly, Roisin O, Declan O’Rourke, Lisa O’Neill and Kodaline’s Steve Garrigan.

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Glen Hansard is no stranger to busking of course. Ten years ago Glen Hansard started the tradition of taking to Dublin’s Grafton Street with a collection of musicians in order to raise money for the homeless. The usual tradition can’t take place in person this year because of the ongoing global health crisis so RTÉ will be taking on the show and broadcasting it to the world.

The show will have many special performances along with stories about memories of the busk over the years and lots of information about the wonderful work The Simon Community does, especially at this time of year. John Sheahan, Finbar Furey, Lisa O’Neill, Glen Hansard, and Shane MacGowan will be making appearances in The Late Late Show studio. Bono and The Edge will perform an acoustic version of U2’s Walk On, as well as lead a special Christmas number. Artists like Imelda May will be performing virtually from London, where she will be performing On Raglan Road. 

Presenter of The Late Late Show, Ryan Tubridy spoke about the event, saying; “This will certainly be a night to remember with the best of Irish talent in one room coming together for some incredible performances. In return, our friends here are asking viewers to dig deep to donate to the Simon Community and to help our brothers and our sisters who are currently homeless to get off the streets, to be safe, to be warm, to be treated with dignity and decency and ultimately to get the type of secure housing that everyone deserves.”

If you are looking for a gift that delivers hope in a meaningful way, why not buy a Dublin Simon Christmas Star The beautiful gold stars can be hung from a tree and represent the real difference you can make to a person’s future. #SimonStars

https://t.co/1DdpTRMoar pic.twitter.com/QqAsfi57c1

— Dublin Simon (@Dublin_Simon) December 12, 2020

Ryan will also be interviewing, Philip Powell, who was staying in a hostel when he struck up a friendship with Glen Hansard, and became a staple performer of the Grafton Street busk. Philip will speak of his experiences of being homeless on and off for two decades.

If you would like to donate to The Simon Community, who work to help the homeless in Ireland, you can do so here. You can watch The Late Late Show Busk for Simon on RTÉ One, Friday, December 18, at 9.35pm or online on the RTÉ player in the UK.

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Death of the Live Stream: To celebrate the release of our album, we’re going to be taking phone calls from you- yes, you the viewer, for seven hours straight! We’ll be live streaming the entire thing and we’ll be joined by some very special guests who will help us take your calls and sell some records. There’ll be karaoke, there’ll be laughs, there’ll be albums sold. Join us on YouTube and Facebook live Wednesday 2nd September. Poster by @elbekoelbe

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The retro visuals on this announcement reflect the band’s nostalgic sound and appearance. Its members are invariably found dressed in loose fitting shirts or stripy 90’s style T-shirts. The music too, harkens back to another era. In 2015 they released a double-single No Fun/ Alright that earned them a spot supporting Wolf Alice and attracted the attention of music publications such as the EDGE.

The double-single was reminiscent of bands like The Mystery Jets and The Pigeon Detectives during the 2007-8 period. Since then, their self-titled first album was released in 2018 and met with positive reviews. The musicality was certainly impressive, but despite the album containing 16 tracks, it is fair to say there was not much variation between them.

Death of the Party on the other hand is far more diverse. Go Moving is discordant and experimental, with Kris Smith shouting down the mic: when the lights come up and the music stops. (The World) Outside my Door is a thoughtful vocal led ballad. The layered guitar and piano make way for a choir-like chorus singing First thing in the morning I’m gonna make a change.

The music video for this tune shows Jack Kaye lying in bed glumly as well as an interesting shot of him singing into the water of a bathroom sink. Viewers commented that the song and visuals imply a subject who is attempting to get over an ‘addiction’ and knows that he needs to make a change. It is true that the narrative of the album does conjure feelings of one late night too many and the emptiness that is left when the lights come up and the music stops. 

This stands in direct contrast to the bands first album, which evoked memories of teenage days spent by the sea and first loves. On I’ll Show You, Kris Smith sings over rhythmic piano: …I’ll show you my world// ‘Cause you’re more than just any other girl. This romantic sentiment is followed by the words Early hours, leave the place// On the beach we’re soaked in rain// Talk about the things we hate.

The Magic Gang’s music is so appealing because it gives us an insight into their world. But it seems as though their world has changed and not everything is as rosy as it was before. Death of the Party shows the band shedding some of their optimism, and it actually turns out far more interesting as a result.