The Edge recently spoke to American Songwriter about U2’s career development. He was asked if he felt under pressure during the production of their latest album and song revisions, to which he replied with:
“There was no pressure at all, particularly early on, because there was no expectation for this. There was no record company release slot. There was no timetable. We were locked down, and there was a spirit of fun and discovery, and the spirit of it was quite a joyful experience because the songs were already written, so you’re taking that stress out of it.”
The Edge mentioned that the band was authentic in their approach and noted that they felt ‘unpretentious’ during the making process. He said:
“We were very unpretentious about it. If something worked, we were happy. If it didn’t work, we’d just start again. I found that very liberating, and I didn’t find it a pressure at all, particularly once we had given ourselves permission not to be reverent about the original arrangements or versions. It was like a blank canvas in a great way. So it was really a good start to live in your imagination about how these songs could sound.”
Earlier, the multi-instrumentalist talked about their new album and shared similar thoughts on the process of recording and creation of it. He stated:
“As we got into it and got into a groove, we really started to enjoy what was happening. There was a lot of freedom in the process, it was joyful and fun to take these songs and sort of reimagine them and I think that comes across. It doesn’t sound like there was a lot of hard work involved because it wasn’t.”
A collection of re-recorded older material in a softer setting, the band’s latest album ‘Songs Of Surrender’ is meant to complete the frontman’s memoir, titled ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, 1 Story‘. According to The Edge, the album started out ‘as an experiment‘.
Listen to the album below.
