The Edge Interview: "Most Likely" Will Be 2028 Before U2 Play Ireland

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Matt Cooper (0:10)

So it's been quite the year for U2. After no new music since 2017, we've had two EPs earlier this year, and today we have a new album, Carnival de Luz, and we're delighted to be joined by The Edge. Edge, thank you very much for taking the time to join us.

The Edge (0:27)

It's my pleasure, Matt.

Matt Cooper (0:28)

OK, busy year. What accounts for this burst of productivity and creativity?

The Edge (0:36)

Well, a couple of things. You know, we had a chance to write a lot of material stretching as far back as the lockdown. But, you know, Larry was not able to play, so we kind of put it to one side, waiting to see, you know, when Larry would be back, and able to contribute. So we did some sessions early last year, and he was playing so well and enjoying it. So we just said, okay, let's go for it.

And we had Jack Knife, our producer, on board, and we decided we'd make it fun. We decided we'd just make the music without putting ourselves under massive pressure and see where it went. And sure enough, it brought us a lot of great material. And so much so that we did start just putting things out, like piecemeal in these EPs before the album, because we felt like that music needed to be heard ahead of the record itself. And so yeah, it'll end up being maybe 24 songs in a single year, which is unprecedented for us.

Matt Cooper (1:54)

And when you were writing that music during COVID, did you ever fear that it wouldn't ever see the light of day, that Larry wouldn't be back with you and that U2 might be no more?

The Edge (2:05)

It crossed my mind. I mean, I felt like, you know, at some point, we might well do something as U2 and hopefully with Larry. If it wasn't with Larry, it would be a very different U2. We'd have to acknowledge that it was not the same.

But we were all hoping that Larry's ailments would be temporary, that he'd be back to play. And so, yeah, it did cross my mind.

Matt Cooper (2:34)

Of course, there's been a lot of nostalgia recently when you celebrated 50 years since the creation of U2.

Now you have all of this new music coming out. Who do you think is it going to appeal to? Is it designed for the people who have been your long term fans? Or do you still see 50 years on the possibility of getting new people interested in U2?

The Edge (2:59)

Well, I think first and foremost, when we sit down to write music, we are trying to write for the fan that's in us.

What would we want to hear? What would, if we were standing in the audience, what would we want that band on stage to be playing? So initially, it's really for ourselves. Beyond that, we're happy to be out here now, promoting the album, we're very proud of it. So we're doing a lot of interviews and press. But we really don't know who is going to be interested. And in some ways, whether we're relevant or not now is not up to us. It's up to us whether we want to try and be relevant. And I think the answer to that is yes.

But it's up to the music buying public, whether they decide that what we're up to is of any interest.

Matt Cooper (3:52)

Does it get easier or harder with age? And the reason I asked this, I was just thinking of an interview that I did years ago, with of all people, the snooker player Ken Daugherty. And I was asking why it was as snooker players got older, they weren't as successful as the younger players.

And I asked you, after all the constant repetition that they would have done, surely that would have made the older player better than the younger player. And he said, it was what gets into the head. It's all of that experience, provided a fear of knowing what could go wrong. Is it something similar for songwriters, in that maybe when you're starting off, when you're younger and you're full of enthusiasm, when you go for things and you take chances and you take risks, do you, as you become older and more experienced, perhaps even tighten up a little bit, find it maybe harder to get those creative juices to flow?

The Edge (4:43)

Well, I mean, every U2 album's a struggle. And that's inherent because we have such high ambitions and our ability to realize that stuff that we want to is limited.