‘It’s a new world. It’s a little fascistic. And it needs a different response’: U2 on 50 years together – and their undimmed faith in humanity — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- U2 marked 50 years since Larry Mullen posted “drummer seeks musicians to form band” on Mount Temple Comprehensive’s noticeboard, with all four original members performing for current pupils at the Dublin school.
- The Edge said U2’s four members define the band and that any departure would create “U2 part two”; Bono described its equal songwriting credits and committee decisions as a democratic “soviet.”
- Carnaval de Luz is U2’s first album of new material in nearly nine years and comes with a world tour; Bono said one aim was to make music “only U2 could make.”
- Days of Ash opens with “American Obituary” about ICE’s shooting of Renee Good; its “righteous anger” draws variously from the war in Ukraine, the genocide in Palestine and the Trump administration, while Easter Lily turns to spirituality.
- Carnaval de Luz turns toward community and “defiant joy” after the EPs’ political anger; Bono said of its message, “The news can’t break us.”
- Dolly Parton recorded her final song as a duet on Carnaval de Luz; Bono called her “the last thing all Americans agreed on.”
- Rosalía inspired “The Mirror Maker” on Carnaval de Luz, with Bono’s falsetto mimicking her operatic flourishes after the band discussed the collaboration in a “soviet” meeting.
Why it matters: U2’s four members sustain their shared structure through equal songwriting credits and committee decisions, while the Joshua Tree and Innocence and Experience tours grossed $543m combined. Their first new album in nearly nine years and world tour place that collective system behind current work rather than a retrospective reunion.
Ask SkimNews
