U2’s Upcoming Albums and Tour

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2024-12-16)

We maintain a permanent page about U2’s Upcoming Projects. With the release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Larry’s press tour for Left Behind there has been much new information from the band themselves where the upcoming albums stand, what they are working on, and with whom. As we attempt to get that page back into an updated form, we present a little look at the new album projects that have been spoken about, and where they may sit. We will follow up over the next few days with updates about other projects.

Some of the quotes are repetitive, many of these press outings were done in a short number of days, and the band repeated ideas in many places. The dates listed are the dates that the interview aired / were printed, and may not reflect the date the conversation happened. Many of the early How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb interviews were given at the end of September, although were not made public for a few weeks.

At the end we touch on the quotes about a new tour, which is likely to happen in 2026 or 2027 depending on when the new album is complete and ready for release.

Last Updated: December 15, 2024.

Upcoming and Recent Releases

U2’s last album, Songs of Surrender, was a collection of 40 recreated U2 songs, released in March 2023. The last album of new songs, Songs of Experience was released in December 2017. More recently, in November 2024, the band have shared a stand alone album of demos called How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb. Work on the next album of new songs is underway, and it sounds like the band have three or four paths for albums at this point.

The band have notified Universal Music that they are working towards having the next U2 album finished soon, but not before the final quarter of 2025. This notification is done so the label can start to prepare plans for an album launch. The album is likely a year off or more, at this point, but there is a lot of work to be done before an album and tour are officially scheduled.

It does appear that in August 2024, the band reconvened, and looked at the work done to date on a “rock and roll” album, and have decided to switch paths, and have started work on something new instead. That “rock and roll” album had been in development since 2018, and Bono had spoken about extensively over the years. The Edge now shares that he doesn’t think what comes next will be a rock album, and instead will be a “different use of the guitar, not a straight-up rock thing.”

These new sessions are being done with original drummer Larry Mullen. He is working with the band in studio after a series of surgeries in 2023 had prevented him from performing in Sphere with the band. Mullen’s first surgeries were in early 2023. He worked with the band on “Atomic City” after those initial surgeries, but had additional surgeries in late 2023.

Album: Four Men in a Room – The U2 Album

As mentioned, in August 2024, it appears that U2 have shifted gears away from the rock and roll album they were working on. With the promotion of the 20th anniversary collection of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb they revealed they have recently started fresh, recording with Larry Mullen in studio. This is likely to be the project that will become the next U2 album. In mid-November they had 3-4 songs complete for this project. They were going back into studio in late November / early December to continue work on this project, with producer Jacknife Lee.

Quotes about the album from the band and others:

2024-09-26: Adam Clayton tells Zane Lowe on Apple Music: “If all the world is a loop, I think we’ve kind of got to the point where we’ve pushed things as far as we can in terms of adding extra things into the band. Now we kind of want to go back, and kind of take the layers off, and get down to what the band does really well. Which is to play live in a room. There’s a freshness to that now, and i don’t know if there’s many bands that can still make records that way. That’s what we want to explore.”
2024-09-26:The Edge shares with Zane Lowe: “Music made in real time in a room with musicians interacting with one other – it just has a narrative, a sonic narrative, which you just cannot create using a different approach — using layering, drum loops or whatever — I love that as well. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a purist in any sense. I feel that the culture shifts and morphs based on what feels fresh, what’s been overplayed, what’s been underplayed. I do feel music that’s been made in real-time has been underserved. It’s starting to feel really fresh again. We’re in a good place to make an album like that, because that’s what we started out doing.”
2024-10-24: Gavin Friday tells the Irish Times: “They’re working on an album. They’ll disappear into the making of it, the writing of it. I’m much more involved when something is happening, so when they come back I’ll be called in.”
2024-10-31: Bono tells Record Collector magazine: “Edge has likened Re-Assemble to a throwdown, in terms of where U2 might go next…Fresh paint…you have to be fit to play first touch football…I want to hear the sound of our band in a room…to feel a performance get away from us and be better for that…I experienced it last month with Larry, Adam and Edge, and I want more.”
2024-10-31: Bono tells Record Collector magazine: “I think of ‘City of Blinding Lights’ as the first song of innocence…with the exception of No Line on the Horizon that period continued for 20 years – Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, they’re all retrospective. It has stopped, you’ll be pleased to hear…You’ll never have to listen to me raging and whinging about my mother or father ever again…Tho’ I do have this opera coming out, haha!”
2024-11-08: Larry Mullen tells Deadline: “I’m recovering. It’s just slow. And yeah, I’m anxious to get back, and this was a very good way back in. You know, there’s, there’s plans to go back into the studio and that. So, yeah, it’s exciting, but it is slow.”
2024-11-11: The Edge told Rolling Stone: “We’ve done a session with Larry. We’re going to do another one in a couple of weeks, and we’re having a great time. So yeah, obviously we don’t want to be over-doing it, but yes, it’s going great and he is in great form. It’s lovely to spend time with him in the studio in a creative environment.”
2024-11-20: The Edge shares with David Fricke on SiriusXM: “It’s very much where our heads are at right now. This music made in real time, by a band in a room. All things add an inherent value that you just cannot achieve, other than being a band, and other than being a band that’s recording in real time. But the tightness, the discipline of the ideas is really a throw down.”
2024-11-20: Bono shares with David Fricke on SiriusXM: “If we’re looking for revelry and revery, we’ve a lot more work to do in U2. That is an inspiration for us. How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb in its directness, in its present tense-ness. You’re in a room with this band. And I think that won’t inform all of our music. But I think we’ve come out of a period of experimentation with electronic music, which we still love and adore, there’s always going to be a place in us for that. But right now we’re all about the moment, and if you’re in the moment, if you’re living in it, you have to be really fit for it, there’s no hiding. So that’s where Edge, Adam, and Larry are. And everyone feels as strongly as I do about this.”
2024-11-20: Bono, speaking with David Fricke, shares on SiriusXM: “That was a through line and set us off…Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, they are all retrospective. This bomb that went off set us for the first time looking into what made us who we are. I think that period, with the exception of No Line on the Horizon, that period has been continuous for 20 years, and has stopped you’ll be pleased to hear. Cause, you will never have to hear me sing about my mother or father ever again. OK?”
2024-11-21: Adam Clayton told Virgin Radio: “During the time we were in the Sphere, Larry had some surgeries. He has made a full recovery. We recorded some songs with him after the summer. So we have started the process of the next record. We’re not sure when we’re going to be finished, we’re not sure when its going to be released. But we’re doing some more work this month, at the end of November, and in the beginning of December we going to be back in the studio. I think by the middle of next year, we’ll have a very good idea of how many songs we have to finish, and when we want to release it. And then a tour will follow on from that.”
2024-11-22: Steve Lillywhite told The NY Post: “They’ve been in the studio, and apparently they’re all excited by how it’s going.”
2024-11-23: The Edge speaking with Billy Sloan on BBC Radio Scotland shares: “Right now there’s a bunch of projects in line, there’s a new U2 album that we are working on, that’s what we are working on with Adam and Larry. There’s a kind of mad sci-fi Irish folk project that Bono and I are working on. Various different solo recordings, that we have no idea where they will go. And don’t need to at this point. We’re enjoying the opportunity to just create. We can think about where these songs belong after the fact. It’s all for us a part of the curiosity that’s always driven us, I don’t think that’s ever going to let up.”
2024-11-23: The Edge also shares with Billy Sloan on BBC Radio Scotland: “We were in the studio with Larry a couple of weeks ago. We are going to be in the studio with him in another week or two. He’s taking it one step at a time, he doesn’t want to over do things. He’s playing well and enjoying it. It’s great having him back in the studio. There’s a chemistry when the four of us play together that’s unmistakable. We’re delighted to have Larry back.”
2024-11-23: The Edge tells Radio-Canada: “We are working a lot on new songs at the moment. We did a couple of weeks with Larry and Adam a month ago. We’re going to do a couple of weeks with them in three weeks. But also Bono and I are also working on some side projects, that could end up being part of the U2 album, we’re not sure yet. We’re calling it a sci-fi-folk record. We’re working with some really fantastic Irish traditional musicians. It’s really the groundwork for where things will go next for us. I think we got fascinated with the intimacy that the Sphere venue allowed us because of the sound system. Literally things that we’d never consider to do in the live context, were suddenly possible and we really revelled in that kind of simple arrangement. We’ll see. But we’re having so much fun. We’re writing so much material. And we’re just excited to see where it leads us. The songs are always the boss.”
2024-11-23: The Edge tells O Globo: “The next thing you’ll hear about from U2 is a new studio album. After which we’ll see what the tour will be like. There’s never 100% certainty. We’ve spent a few weeks in the studio playing with Larry. He’s recovering well, taking it easy, one step at a time. We’re not asking him to do too much, but I think he’s playing really well. And enjoying playing, which is important.”
2024-11-25: The Edge speaks with Tracy Clifford on 2FM and shares: “Larry is doing good. He’s taking things one step at the time. Which is the correct thing to do. We’re playing a little bit with him in the studio. He’s playing great. We’re enjoying being all together for the first time in quite a while. It’s great to get Larry back in the studio.”
2024-11-25: The Edge tells Jo Whiley, “We’re at that great phase where we don’t have to over think it, we’re just making music and loving that process and then we’ll figure out where things belong afterwards, so there’s a couple of different projects. Definitely U2, with Larry, which is wonderful. We’ve got him in the studio… he’s good, he’s taking it easy, but he’s back in the saddle on the drums, doing some recording with us, and so we’ll be doing a bit more of that before the end of the year.”
2024-11-26: Adam Clayton shares on RTL: “We are recording, we are in and out of the studio. We really want to get a record of new songs to our audience. When we know what that record is, we’ll go out and tour it. I don’t know which year. It may be 2026, it may be 2027. It depends. First of all we had to find out if Larry could play. We found out that Larry can play. We went into studio with him, we did 3-4 weeks at the end of the summer. We have 3-4 songs from that, which is really, really, good. We are going back in 2 weeks time to do more recording with Larry. I think before Christmas we’ll have 6-7 songs to consider. We’ll finish those songs off, and then we’ll have a record to release, the end of the year [2025], or the beginning of the next year [2026], I’m not sure how long it will take…”
2024-11-27: Adam Clayton tells Triple M: “I wish i had a crystal ball that could tell me that. I think we’re just going to work away on it. We’ve done a couple of months, no…actually not, we’ve done about a month on it already. We’re going to do another month in the next few weeks. We’ll probably do another month early next year. Then we’ll know what we’ve got. It’s a little bit like the mining process. You kind of start digging until you have a few songs. You say ok, what would fit well with that, where are we going with this. And that’s where we are in the process.” (He was asked where they were in the process of finishing a new album.)
2024-11-30: Adam Clayton tells RTÉ: “Larry’s taken a lot of advice. He’s gone through a lot of physical re-education and all those sorts of things to get him into the sort of condition he’d like to be in to be able to perform again. We’re taking it one step at a time. He has done some studio work with us, and he’s going to do more studio work with us, and we hope that leads to a completed album with Larry playing drums on it.”
2024-11-30: Adam Clayton also tells RTÉ: “I am excited about going into the studio with the other three members of U2 because I think, yet again, that none of us would be in the studio if we didn’t think we had something to offer. I think we’re ready. I think we know a lot more about what we do and a lot more about ourselves to make a record that we think represents where we are and what our view is on the way things are. That’s why we make records. And we think we’re in a pretty good position to do that right now.”
2024-12-13: Larry Mullen told Times Radio: “I imagine we will be recording next year. I would hope that we would tour at sometime in 2026. I don’t think it will be what we normally do. I would hope it would be something different. But I’m excited to get back in some capacity.”

Known recording sessions:

The first recording sessions for this new iteration of the album were done in Europe in September 2024, and yielded 3-4 songs.
A second recording session is underway for this project in December 2024.

Album: Sci-Fi Folk Music

The other project that The Edge has been speaking about since the shift in gears away from the rock and roll album, is a “sci-fi” folk music project that he and Bono have been working on. They have revealed they are working with Jacknife Lee and Brian Eno and a number of Irish musicians on this project. At this point, The Edge says it may develop into material for the next U2 album, or it may continue on its own as a separate project. Work on this project is ongoing, and Bono and Edge were in studio in November to work on this project.

Quotes about the album from the band and others:

2024-11-05: The Edge tells the Toronto Star: “And then there are some other more experimental projects that Bono and I are working on — there’s this sort of Irish sci-fi folk thing that we’re kind of playing around with, which may end up on the next U2 album. We’re not sure yet, but we’re excited about that.” Later he also mentions, “And then I’m fascinated with the folk revival happening in Ireland and North America, artists like Hozier. There seems to be something new and fresh about that music.”
2024-11-11: The Edge tells Rolling Stone: “We’re working away with Jacknife [Lee] and I’m really enjoying working with him. And we have other sessions booked for potential different projects, which will probably all end up being folded into the U2 project, but we are working with other people and enjoying that. We’re really at that phase of just experimenting, letting the music tell us what to do. It’s just a lot of fun right now.”
2024-11-20: Bono shares with David Fricke on SiriusXM: “I’m with Edge on the lyricism that’s required to negotiate these modern times. I’m presently listening to epic Irish ballads. I’m listening to folk music. And the lyricism of that. I’m really. It was really hard for us to see, to live with Shane McGowans departure, knowing what a gift he had. His punk roots. His lyricism. His understanding, and indeed the Pogues’ in general understanding of a great riff, and a directness. The lyricism is not an invitation to vagaries.”
2024-11-23: The Edge shares “We are producing material without having to think about deadlines, exploring possibilities, working with different collaborators under the guidance of Jacknife Lee, a producer we’ve worked with for some time.”
2024-11-23: The Edge tells O Globo that some of these collaborators include Cormac Begley, Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Dermot Sheedy. Begley plays the concertina, Mac Con Iomaire plays fiddle, and Sheedy is on bodhrán. Colm Mac Con Iomaire joined Bono and The Edge for the A Sort of Homecoming special, where they performed U2 songs with other Irish artists and Jacknife Lee and Kate Ellis.
2024-11-23: The Edge shares: “Since albums like October and War we haven’t really looked at the Irish influence. Since then we’ve gained an outside perspective and become more aware of the uniqueness of Irish Music. Now it seems like a new place for us to go. It could yield a U2 album, a side project like Passengers. We’re not thinking too much about where it will lead.”
2024-11-23: The Edge speaking with Billy Sloan on BBC Scotland shares: “Right now there’s a bunch of projects in line, there’s a new U2 album that we are working on, that’s what we are working on with Adam and Larry. There’s a kind of mad sci-fi Irish folk project that Bono and I are working on. Various different solo recordings, that we have no idea where they will go. And don’t need to at this point. We’re enjoying the opportunity to just create. We can think about where these songs belong after the fact. It’s all for us a part of the curiosity that’s always driven us, I don’t think that’s ever going to let up.”
2024-11-23: The Edge tells Radio-Canada: “We are working a lot on new songs at the moment. We did a couple of weeks with Larry and Adam a month ago. We’re going to do a couple of weeks with them in three weeks. But also Bono and I are also working on some side projects, that could end up being part of the U2 album, we’re not sure yet. We’re calling it a sci-fi-folk record. We’re working with some really fantastic Irish traditional musicians. It’s really the groundwork for where things will go next for us. I think we got fascinated with the intimacy that the Sphere venue allowed us because of the sound system. Literally things that we’d never consider to do in the live context, were suddenly possible and we really revelled in that kind of simple arrangement. We’ll see. But we’re having so much fun. We’re writing so much material. And we’re just excited to see where it leads us. The songs are always the boss.”
2024-11-25: The Edge tells Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2, “We were in the studio the other day just working on some crazy new music. He’s good. We’re at that great phase where we don’t have to overthink it we’re just making music and loving that process. We’ll figure out where things belong after. There’s a couple of different projects.” He then talks about recording with Larry for the new U2 album and his recovery, “Bono and I are working on some crazy sci-fi Irish folk music. Which could end up becoming part of the U2 album. We’re not sure yet. We’ll see. Part of our kind of process is to just go so wildly away from off track, and the process of bringing things back on track is kind of how you get some unique sounding music.”
2024-11-25: Asking for more information on where the Sci-Fi Irish folk material might end up, The Edge also tells Jo Whiley, “We have Brian Eno involved, and a bunch of…some beautiful Irish musicians, some incredibly talented…Colm Mac Con Iomaire who is this fiddle player, and Dermot Sheehy who is this bodhrán player, they came in the other day. They’re astonishing players. We’re excited about that.”

Known recording sessions:

Bono and The Edge recorded in Dave Stewart’s studio in the Bahamas in January 2022
The Edge worked on his own in recording studios in Belfast and Dublin in 2022.
Bono and The Edge were in studio in early November 2024, working on this project.

Album: Songs for Fighting (The Rock and Roll Album)

From 2017 until early 2024, it looked as if U2 were working on an album that Adam has jokingly referred to as Songs for Fighting, which has been referred to as a rock and roll album by Bono. During the run at Sphere, the band had chosen the songs from these sessions that they wanted to work on, and the plan at the end of that run was to go into studio and record these songs as an album. However, it appears the band have taken another route, and are now likely placing this rock and roll album on hold. It appears this album was being developed with Steve Lillywhite and Jacknife Lee as producers. The album, was expected to follow the “Songs of …” naming convention, and Bono has recently said that the “Songs of” era is behind them.

Rumours from U2’s crew suggested the band were hoping for a 2024 release for this album, and that venues for a stadium tour in 2025 were on hold. At this point the venue holds have been released, and the crew are no longer under contract for a 2025 tour.

Quotes about the album from the band and others:

Will return soon.

Known recording sessions:

In October 2019 the band did a recording session with Ryan Tedder in Los Angeles.
In April 2022, the full band spent some time in California recording. Possibly at Ryan Tedder’s studio.
Larry Mullen joined the band in the South of France for recording sessions in August 2023.
The band worked on, and completed “Atomic City” in Los Angeles in September 2023.
Larry Mullen was again working with the band in studio in February and March, 2023, but it is unknown at what capacity.
Another session with the band in studio was held in June, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Album: Songs of Ascent (Album of Psalms)

Yes, Songs of Ascent still exists in some form. The album was initially developed as a companion album to No Line on the Horizon and has continued to be worked on in the background of things. The album has been described as more meditative, and Bono has described the work as 15 psalms. Most recently Bono has discussed the album in late 2022, sharing that it is about 70 percent complete, and they were holding it back to work on the rock and roll album.

Quotes about the album from the band and others:

Will return soon.

Known recording sessions:

Initial development of the album started with Danny Lanois and Brian Eno during the sessions for No Line on the Horizon
The album was almost completed and released in 2011, ahead of the resumption of the U2360 tour.
Upon deciding the album wasn’t ready in 2011, the band started working on other ideas including a club sounding album (working with RedOne, David Guetta and Avicii) and the album that became Songs of Innocence with Dangermouse.

Tour Plans:

Along with a new album comes the possibility of touring. Adam Clayton has confirmed that the band expects to tour the upcoming album, with possible dates in 2026, or 2027 if the album is not yet done for next year. Any tour will be with the band’s original drummer, Larry Mullen, who is reported to be ready to play. Bono confirmed in 2023 that the band would not tour until Mullen was ready.

2024-11-11: The Edge tells Rolling Stone: “We can’t really think much about the tour. There’s been some conversations about what we might do. But for us, again, as I was saying earlier on, it’s like how one album seems to respond to what has happened before. So I think we’ll respond in some way to what we’ve just done, which is the Sphere, with something quite different. But what that is, we’re not really sure just yet.”
2024-11-11: The Edge also shares with Rolling Stone: “We’re looking forward to getting out and seeing our fans and going to where they are. I think that would be an important thing rather than them traveling to us. That helps on some levels cutting out some of the carbon emissions of touring, but I think we can find a way to cut back on carbon and still manage to get on the road and see hour fans where they are.”
2024-11-14: The Edge tells the Los Angeles Times: “I wouldn’t rule out doing something for the Sphere in the future. But we’re itching to get back to regular concerts. Next thing we have to do is a new record, of course. This project was a celebration of Achtung Baby, so we’re anxious to do something that’s about new work. We’re already actively developing new material for what will become a U2 album in the future, and we’ll be back to touring. As much as we loved being able to rely on the sound being great every night, there’s a great momentum to being on the road. And seeing local fans, as opposed to relying on them coming to us – it’s different. We miss it.”
2024-11-21: Adam Clayton tells Virgin Radio Italia: “I think by the middle of next year, we’ll have a very good idea of how many songs we have to finish, and when we want to release it. And then a tour will follow on from that. We feel like, it was very hard for our European fans that we were playing shows in Las Vegas. We realize that for most fans that’s a very, very expensive ticket. And that’s a long way to travel. We know that we have to make it up to our European fans when we come out and tour next time.”
2024-11-21: Adam Clayton also tells Virgin Radio Italia: “We definitely like going to Italy, but equally we like going to Sweden as well.”
2024-11-21: Adam Clayton shares on RTL Radio: “When we know what that record is we’ll go out and tour it. I don’t know which year. It may be 2026, it may be 2027.”
2024-11-25: The Edge speaks with Tracy Clifford on RTÉ 2FM and shares: “Well we absolutely loved the Sphere run. But we do miss meeting our fans where they are at geographically. So We’re not giving up on the idea of going on the road. But I think we’re all feeling, like we need, like every act, We need to find a way to tour that’s sustainable as possible.”
2024-11-25: The Edge also shares on RTÉ 2FM: “I was wondering if we should do some club shows with the shadow album. I think there’s so much emphasis now on new songs, and recording for a new album, that’s what I think the focus will be. I can see some of these songs entering our set. I think they stand up.”
2024-11-26: Adam Clayton appearing on Triple M in Australia shared: “We knew it was hard on our audience that many would have to travel to Las Vegas to see the band. People doing the world tour from Oz also had us do that. We want to be a little bit more democratic, we want to visit people in their home states, countries and towns.”
2024-11-30: When asked by RTÉ whether or not the tour will start in Europe he replies, “It’s currently the plan but I hate to jump the gun because it raises expectations. I am excited about going into the studio with the other three members of U2 because I think, yet again, that none of us would be in the studio if we didn’t think we had something to offer.”
2024-12-12: Larry Mullen in an interview with Times Radio shares: “I imagine we will be recording next year. I would hope that we would tour at sometime in 2026. I don’t think it will be what we normally do. I would hope it would be something different. But I’m excited to get back in some capacity.” (We believe the last comment is in reference to doing something different with the tour plans.)

Will this be the last tour? The Edge seems to think the band will be around for a while. Larry confirmed that he did have those surgeries so he could continue his career as a drummer on the long term.

2024-10-31: Edge tells Record Collector magazine: “As long as we’re still enjoying it and feeling inspired, as long as we’re surprising ourselves and the fans with work that has vitality and experimentation and creativity. I’ve still got the same drive and ambition and focus to continue. Will we still want to be playing ‘I Will Follow’ and running around the stage doing ‘Vertigo’ at 85? Maybe.”
2024-11-23: Billy Sloan asks Edge if he sees himself touring in 20 years, The Edge replies: “I have no doubt we will. I have no intention of retiring. Music is not just what I do professionally, it’s my recreation, i do it for fun. When I’m off the road, or not in the studio with the band, I’m at home writing songs and working on music. I would never ever want to think about not doing that. I’m sure the others are the same. Obviously, physical limitations being excepted, that might be the only reason why we might not be touring as hard as we have in the past.”
2024-12-04: In many people’s Spotify wrapped, Adam Clayton popped up to share: “We’re certainly not slowing down anytime soon!”

All of the referenced articles above were from the recent press appearances for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Left Behind. Most of the sources can be accessed here.

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