Can you talk about a couple of specific tracks?
There’s a song called Moment Of Surrender, which is seven and a half minutes long. Brian got the ball rolling with a suggestion for some chords and then we made a few adjustments and got to this set of changes that we really liked and then just kicked it off and we immediately realised there was something powerful going on. And when that happens, it’s like you don’t have to say anything in the room; people know it’s going off. Then Adam came up with this incredible bass part and Bono had a couple of melody ideas on the spot, so it was really quick. There’s something really thrilling about a piece that comes together like that, because you really don’t have time to think. There’s something great about that. It’s the purest moment, often, when you don’t have an opportunity to step back and consider anything; you’re just in it.
So it’s a trance-y thing?
It’s hard to describe really. It’s very 21st Century. It’s a beautiful song, amazing rhythms, great lyrics and [laughs] fantastic guitar playing!
And then there’s another one from Fez [Morocco, where U2 recorded in May/June ’07]. Similar kind of situation, in a session where we’re just trying out ideas and this piece of music just came through and we all knew at the time that it was good. It seems to be everyone’s favourite or second favourite tune on the album. It’s called Unknown Caller.
Can you hear the influence of Fez?
To some degree. A couple of the tunes were recorded there. We had some local percussionists come down one day – but I’m not sure that the tune they did has made the record. With Unknown Caller the sound of Fez is there because we were recording in this riad [town house]. The way they are constructed, they have this big atrium and that’s where we were set up. So the roof was open and the swallows were flying into the atrium and nesting, so at the beginning of the tune you can hear these swallows. So it really has this very tangible atmosphere of the space that we recorded it in. So Fez is there in that sense. But we’re not into musical tourism. It’s the same with Achtung Baby, there was something in there but it wasn’t overtly German, you know, and this isn’t overtly Moroccan… It’s just a flavour.
Lanois has been quoted a couple of times recently in the Canadian press and the word he seems to be favouring with regard to this record is “innovative”. After all these years with the same team can U2 still be breaking boundaries?
Well, that’s what we get off on – hearing something that we’ve never heard before. It’s so great to work with Brian; he’s always doing things that are completely fresh, and we as a band don’t really come alive unless we feel like we’re exploring some uncharted territory. So, it’s not easy to get something that you’re really excited about, but once you do, you know, and that’s everything for us. We wouldn’t want to be working with anyone else on that front. Both Brian and Danny are hugely inspiring to work with, breaking us out of our comfort zone in our writing or playing.
Your relationship has endured longer than almost any other band/producer match-up, but it’s more than that this time. Did I read that Brian and Danny were writing with you?
We decided at the beginning of the project that we would make that offer to Brian and Danny to see what it might lead us to and I think it was really great. I think they were both flattered and I think it gave them a great boost of affirmation and confidence. So those sessions had this great atmosphere; everyone was in a great mood and we got some great shit out of it. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t have to go off and write as U2. Bono and I did a lot of work on material on our own as well, but it was those sessions that set the tone for the album and they wouldn’t have panned out as they did if we hadn’t asked Brian and Danny to co-write with us.
After a couple of straight-ish rock records in All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, was it time for U2 to stretch out again? Does knowing you’re in a position of strength mean you can do something wilder?
I think for us it’s really about keeping it fresh. Making All That You Can Leave Behind and How To Dismantle… inspired us at the time. This time we wanted to try something different and we didn’t really know what it was. We just knew that we wanted to fall in love with the process of making music and see where it led us. So, initially, we didn’t really think about where the music was going to go; we were just playing together and seeing what happened. And, by not concentrating at all on making an album I think an album started to emerge. So, it’s really us following our creative instincts. In some ways it’s very uncontrived. People tend to think of our music as being a manifesto of a kind but this is really organic; it’s just what is interesting to us right now in music and going for that.
What’s Bono banging on about this time?
I think there are some interesting third person characters in the songs. It’s giving Bono an opportunity to change his perspective in the lyric writing. I think the last two albums were really personal and first-person. But I think this one has a more panoramic scope lyrically, so it’s still personal and it’s still ultimately written from experience and Bono’s perspective, but he just has more freedom.
Did his piano lessons come in handy?
Yeah! He’s been working a lot on material on his own and that’s fed into various different projects that we’re working on. It’s cool. We’re all still in a phase where we can learn, develop and change. I don’t think we’ve actually stopped that process of being born, so to speak. And it’s very inspiring for me to see Bono coming up with very strong musical ideas. That’s what being in a band is all about.
You always manage to find – in every record – a piece of technology that you engage with immediately, and that throws up a song. Where The Streets Have No Name came out of your dabblings with the Infinite Guitar box, and this time you mentioned your Death By Audio pedal…
It’s this particular kind of 21st Century distortion. Guitar is such a versatile instrument, but it’s very easy to get in a cul-de-sac in terms of how it sounds. I love anything that just gives it a different personality and this particular set of distortion pedals I think, are a different colour. It’s like a different personality and that, for me, is a great jumping-off point. I used Death By Audio’s Supersonic Fuzz Gun on the song No Line In The Horizon, and a couple of others I think. It was Ben Curtis who turned me onto them. He’s one of the Curtis Brothers from Secret Machine – he’s got a new band now called School Of Seven Bells, who are pretty interesting.
So how much work is left to do?
Way too much, as usual, but we will get there. We’re not f**king around this time. This is personal!
Interview by: Danny Eccleston
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