U2 has decided to delay their upcoming album after the surprise victory of Donald Trump, band members said in an interview, as they plan to reconsider certain songs in the wake of a Trump presidency.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, guitarist the Edge said that the band was placing the album’s release on hold and taking some “breathing space” to consider what they wanted to say following Trump’s ascension to the White House.
“We just went, ‘Hold on a second – we’ve got to give ourselves a moment to think about this record and about how it relates to what’s going on in the world,’” the guitarist said.
The 40-year-old group were set to release their 14th studio album, Songs of Experience, which the Edge said was completed toward the end of last year. He explained that most of it was was written in early 2016 or before then. “Now, as I think you’d agree, the world is a different place,” he said.
The group have made their views on Trump known. At the iHeartRadio music festival in September, Bono used lyrics from their song Desire to make pointed remarks about the then presidential nominee. He also told a virtual Trump, “You’re fired,” at an October benefit concert.
Speaking to Charlie Rose in September, Bono said that Trump is “trying to hijack the idea of America”.
The Edge described Trump’s win as a “pendulum [that] has suddenly just taken a huge swing in the other direction”. The group are gearing up for a tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their album The Joshua Tree, and he said that things have somewhat come full circle since the album’s release during the Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher era of transatlantic politics.
“It was a period when there was a lot of unrest,” he said. “It feels like we’re right back there in a way.” The Edge also suggested that the group might write additional songs as they reconsider if the album’s content is “really was what we wanted to say”.
