The Edge: “New U2 material will be ready soon”

The declarations about the future of the U2. Once again The Edge during an interview he hinted that the Irish band’s new material is coming “very soon” and that the band is looking to put on some live shows.

The guitarist provided an update on the band’s new music during a recent chat on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast and confirmed that a new single could be released soon. “There might be a new song very soon that you’ll hear about. That’s all I can say. We’re in a great place creatively,” he said.

He also added that the band made a habit of pitching finished sections to each other during the writing process, so they could focus on material that can be fully polished rather than something that “will never work” .

“I kind of fooled myself, thinking, ‘Okay, this is for Edge’s solo album, so I can’t leave it half done. It doesn’t have to have finished lyrics, but it has to be really complete. And this extra discipline, I think, was very helpful,” he said.

“I’ve been working on a lot of material and now that we’re doing some U2 sessions with that material, it seems to be paying off,” The Edge continued. “We could still change a lot, but we won’t waste our time on an idea that would never work.”

The last new music U2 shared came in 2023, in the form of the standalone single “Atomic City“.

Last year they also shared some previously unreleased material recorded in 2004. It was a song titled “Happiness“, born during the sessions for the 2004 album “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”.

During the recent podcast interview, The Edge stated that the band was eager to undertake more live shows following the completion of their major “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere” residency at Sphere in Las Vegas.

“Hopefully we can do some shows,” he said. “We did the tour in Las Vegas, which was great, but we didn’t get to see much of the world. We’re looking forward to meeting our fans where they live, instead of having them come to us.”

This isn’t the first time the guitarist has shared information about U2’s new material. Back in November he provided an update on U2’s next album, stating that it won’t be “a straight rock thing.”

“I think we’re in that big honeymoon period where you’re experimenting a lot and looking at all the possible musical themes,” he revealed. “I think the guitar will be a big part of the next record, but I don’t think it will be a heavy rock album. I think it will be a very different kind of use of the guitar, not pure and simple rock.”

The band’s clues about possible new songs on the way also date back to 2023, shortly after kicking off their big residency in Las Vegas (January 26 to March 2, 2024). Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, the frontman Good and The Edge said they had enough ideas ready for over 100 new songs. “Well, I think about new music, new songs,” said the latter. “There’s a lot that we have ready and some that need dusting off, but they’ll be ready soon. I’m telling you, we have some amazing new songs. Really exciting.”

Good he added, “Edge’s got about 100 in the bag. I’ve got about 20… but Adam’s got something to give, too.”

Just a few weeks ago, the drummer Larry Mullen Jr. talked about his recovery from an injury – which forced him to take time off from the band and miss concerts in Las Vegas – and shared what fans can expect from the new material. “I don’t think it’s going to be what we normally do. I’m hoping it’s something different. But I’m excited to be back in some capacity,” he said, later hinting at a 2026 tour.

Again, in a separate interview with The Edge in November, the guitarist revealed that U2 are recording new music with the returning drummer, as well as collaborating with Bono and Brian Eno on “a kind of sci-fi Irish folk music.”

On the possibility of this material being part of U2’s next album, Edge said: “We’re not sure yet, we’ll see” and added: “Part of our process is going so far off the rails and the process of bringing the things on the tracks is how you get unique sounding music.”