Songs of Experience (U2 album)
| Songs of Experience | ||||
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| Studio album by U2 | ||||
| Released | 1 December 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2014–17 | |||
| U2 chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Songs of Experience | ||||
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Songs of Experience is the upcoming fourteenth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It will be released on 1 December 2017. The album is intended to be a companion piece to U2's previous record, Songs of Innocence (2014). Whereas its predecessor explored the group members' adolescence in Ireland in the 1970s, Songs of Experience thematically will be a collection of letters written by lead vocalist Bono to people and places closest to his heart. The band collaborated with a variety of producers for the record, including Steve Lillywhite, Ryan Tedder, Jacknife Lee, Jolyon Thomas, and Andy Barlow.
Songs of Experience was first mentioned by Bono on the day that Songs of Innocence was released in 2014. He began songwriting while recuperating from a serious bicycle accident that occurred in November. During the following year's Innocence + Experience Tour, U2 worked on the album using a mobile recording studio. The sessions continued into 2016, with the album mostly completed by the end of the year. The group had planned to release Songs of Experience in the fourth quarter, but after the shift of global politics in a conservative direction, highlighted by the UK's Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential election, the group chose to put the record on hold and reassess its tone.
On 6 September 2017, U2 released the album's first single, "You're the Best Thing About Me".
On 9 September 2014, U2 announced their thirteenth studio album, Songs of Innocence, at an Apple product launch event, and released it digitally the same day to all iTunes Store customers at no cost. The release made the album available to over 500 million iTunes customers in what Apple CEO Tim Cook called "the largest album release of all time." Apple reportedly paid Universal Music Group and U2 a lump sum for a five-week exclusivity period in which to distribute the album and spent US$100 million on a promotional campaign. Produced by Danger Mouse with Paul Epworth, Ryan Tedder, Declan Gaffney, and Flood, Songs of Innocence recalls the group members' youth in Ireland, touching on childhood experiences, loves and losses, while paying tribute to their musical inspirations. Lead vocalist Bono described it as "the most personal album we've written". The record received mixed reviews and drew criticism for its digital release strategy; it was automatically added to users' iTunes libraries, which for many, triggered an unprompted download to their electronic devices. Chris Richards of The Washington Post called the release "rock-and-roll as dystopian junk mail". Within a few hours of Songs of Innocence's release, Bono posted a note on U2's website indicating a companion release would follow: "If you like Songs of Innocence, stay with us for Songs of Experience. It should be ready soon enough... although I know I've said that before."
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