U2’s Songs Of Experience Reportedly Out 12/1

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

U2’s Songs Of Experience Reportedly Out 12/1

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

U2 have been teasing Songs Of Experience, the follow-up to 2014’s Songs Of Innocence, basically from the moment they forced Innocence onto every iPhone in the world. The album’s blown past a few tentative release dates over the years, and at the beginning of this year the band announced they were retooling it to address Donald Trump’s presidency. In the meantime they’ve been touring to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, a trek that continues this fall. But a new report suggests they’ll finally unveil the new album in December.

The Irish Sun reports that Songs Of Experience will be out 12/1, World AIDS Day, through a partnership with (RED), the anti-AIDS charity Bono co-founded in 2006. The story also indicates lead single “You’re The Best Thing About Me” will be out 9/8. U2 reportedly shot a video for that song at their secret performance in Amsterdam earlier this year, and Kygo played a version of it during a DJ set at Norway’s Cloud Nine festival back in 2016.

Irish radio DJ Dave Fanning, a longtime friend of the band, confirmed the release plan, saying he’s heard the album and “It’s definitely out this year.” Fanning also took a random shot at the Rolling Stones: “What’s great is new songs mean something to U2. They take their new material seriously, in a way that the Rolling Stones don’t.” So I guess be on the lookout for a new U2 album before the end of 2017 and expect it to be better than Blue & Lonesome.

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