Given the lack of new substantive U2 material to consider, fans are left to talk about rumours and sightings during this interim period between albums and tours. Without a doubt, once the new album is released and the tour rolling, there will be a deluge of information to write about. In the meantime, we can start to piece together what we should anticipate in the coming few months. atu2.com provides an excellent recap of the latest rumours surrounding U2′s new album. Over the last month, these are the latest ‘developments’:
September 20, 2013
Rumour silly season continues. According to two sources close to the band, the new album will be called Hideout and will be a pre-Christmas release. Considering the annonymity of the sources, I would take this rumor with a grain of salt:
I have on very good authority (first via a pal in Dublin who’s in the band circle and today via a label rep I know for a friend in common) that the album is gonna be called Hideout. This double check of different sources is pretty much an answer that what I tell you is legit. The guys are planning everything (visually, marketing-wise, etc.) for a hot pre-Christmas release. Unlike the other guy who posted here, I’m not so sure about the last week of November. I’ve just been told that it’s a Christmas release. The label rep added that a previous U2 album we can refer as a comparison is Pop, but it’s at the same time totally different from that. I got it’s all focused on the songs rather than the style. Great, great songs. Relevant songs. Forget Achtung. You heard the story here first, folks (MagnificentHanoverQuayDude).
However, this seems to correspond with testimonies of U2 heading back to New York to continue work on the new album.
@nowheregirl3 @u2_news heading back to America to finish album we were told – And that it'll be out for DECEMBER !! beLIEve it when I see it
— Brat (@Gpaul1972) September 21, 2013
@febottini met some studio techs on Friday before I went into windmill lane and that's what myself and @alonlo were told DEC 13 !!!
— Brat (@Gpaul1972) September 21, 2013
September 8, 2013
Edge’s guitar tech – Dallas Schoo – spoke to Dublin-based U2 fan Dave Griffith outside of U2 HQ and mentioned that U2 have returned to the studio to continue recording new material.
Dallas: [Asked how the album was coming along.] “Great – some amazing songs – you’ll love it!”
Dave: “When’s it out?”
Dallas: “We’ve been told next year.”
Dave: “So no release dates of tour dates?”
Dallas: “No, not yet.”
Dave: “What’s it sound like? Is it Achtung Baby-esque?”
Dallas: [Look of surprise] “No, no – not at all but very very exciting.”
Dave: “So is the album at post production stage at this stage?”
Dallas: “God no. You’d think so!!! They’re still writing stuff and Edge keeps coming up with new stuff. I’m actually off to him now!!”
September 2, 2013
Bono was on Irish radio today and told Pat Kenny that U2 isn’t committed to any release schedule, and that he’d “like to think” U2 will put out an album in 2014.
But I think we’re nearly there, and once we’re there we’ll know it. I’d like to think that next year, there’ll be a U2 release.
… it’s very different, very fresh sound, and some beautiful songs.
This part of the conversation begins at the 20:20 mark.
August 30, 2013
Long time U2 producer, Steve Lillywhite, but is not working on U2′s new album but has been in contact with Bono. Lillywhite tells a fan in Dublin that U2′s new album won’t be released until 2014.
@atu2 exactly what he said yeah, next year (no date given) said it's "unusual for them it sounds really professional"
— Brat (@Gpaul1972) August 30, 2013
August 20, 2013
According to the Italian U2 fan site U2place.com, one of its contacts at Universal Music Italy claims that U2′s new album “definitely” won’t be released in 2013, which suggests that the release will be early 2014.
August 1, 2013
In an interview for Welt am Sonntag to mark the 70th birthday of Mick Jagger, Bono spoke to Martin Scholz about the Rolling Stones and regarding the new album (u2.com):
I am a bit out of touch with the rest of the world at the moment, I am down in a big black hole with U2, as we are busy working on our next album. We don’t know yet when it will come out. It could be finished within the next weeks, maybe at the end of the year. We are just lost in it, and we surely don’t wanna wake up out of this until the dream is done.
Tour Implications
Assuming the rumours are true – that the album will be released in the spring of 2014 – we can use the time frame around No Line on the Horizon in order to anticipate what will happen in the coming months:
- U2 fans will come out of hibernation, begin frequenting online forums and social media outlets, and renew their U2.com fanclub membership
- New single will be released (or leaked) late January (January 19, 2009 was when Get On Your Boots was leaked and subsequently digitally released).
- Video premiere for the new single will be out early February (the video for Get On Your Boots was revealed February 6, 2009).
- New Album will be released sometime between mid February to late March. If we remembered what happened with No Line on the Horizon, Universal Music Australia’s online music store, accidentally made the album available for digital sale on February 18, 2009 prompting an early-than-scheduled release date.
- U2 fan forums and social media explode with discussions over the songs, name of album, and possible tour dates
- Rumours of concert venue bookings start leaking on the internet, prviding the impetus for fans to book accommodations in anticipation of the upcoming U2 tour
- Summer European Tour announcement early March, followed by the North American dates in the fall
- Fans are notified what ‘level’ of membership they have (depending on length of membership) and which days they have access to pre-sale tickets. Due to restrictions to how many tickets you can buy (i.e 4 tickets per member for a single European show OR 4 tickets per member for up to 4 North American shows), fans will buy additional memberships on behalf of their friends, siblings, dogs, etc, and start to coordinate with their U2 friends who will buy which tickets in order to maximize number of presale tickets they can buy for the tour.
- Concert tickets for Europe on sale late March for both Europe and a few dates for North America
- U2 forums act as place where fans coordinate their tour dates, hotels to stay and share, bars to drink, restaurants to eat, and when to start lining up for the GA queue
This timeline is based on what happened for No Line on the Horizon and the subsequent 360° Tour. Assuming the album release date for the new album is the same for 2014, this rough schedule is what we can anticipate for U2′s new album and tour. We’ll see in a few months time if this is the case. In any event, we all look forward to the excitement that will be generated during and after the album release.
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