U2 Album Release To Be Delayed Over Trump Victory, Some Songs May Be Rewritten For ‘World That Is A Different Place’


By the end of 2016, legendary rock band U2 had completed their fourteenth studio album; now its release will be delayed because Donald Trump pulled off an Electoral College win. According to Bono, The Edge and the rest of U2, Songs of Experience, can’t be released as planned because it was written in early 2016, with parts being done even earlier than that. According to The Edge, things have changed dramatically since the early 2016 perspective that went into writing and recording the much-anticipated album.

“Now, as I think you’d agree, the world is a different place.”

Sharing his thoughts on the release of the band’s new album in a Rolling Stone interview, the U2 guitarist claimed that the shocking Trump victory in November was the single factor that caused the band to opt to delay Songs of Experience. In fact, the difference in the world climate between the beginning of 2016 and the end of 2016 has caused U2 to “reconsider” some songs altogether, particularly how the music may apply to a world struggling with the aftermath of a Trump presidency.

According to The Edge, U2 needs “breathing space” in order to decide how they want to use their art to communicate with the world in its new, post-Trump reality.

“We just went, ‘Hold on a second – we’ve got to give ourselves a moment to think about this record and about how it relates to what’s going on in the world.”

Delaying and even seriously contemplating making changes to their long-awaited, fully completed new album is far from the first time the U2 has made their opinion on Donald Trump public knowledge. At an October benefit concert, before Trump was shockingly elected President-elect, lead U2 singer Bono told a Trump facsimile, “You’re fired,” mocking Trump’s Apprentice catch-phrase. U2 also used the iHeartRadio music festival in September to bag on Trump, performing while a giant Trump was projected on the screen behind the band.

As Billboard reports, U2’s Bono also had a virtual argument with Trump about the future of America, going back and forth with the virtual Trump speaking pre-recorded Trump quotes.

“We remember that peace is not just the absence of violence. Peace is love organized. So get out and vote, whoever you’re voting for!”

In a September interview with Charlie Rose, Bono of U2 accused Trump of “trying to hijack the idea of America.”

Of course, all of these big anti-Trump U2 statements came before Trump won the election, at a time when most of the country and the world sincerely believed that a Trump victory was all but impossible. Throughout this time, the now-delayed album Songs of Experience was largely already completed.

Now, U2 (along with the rest of the world) is living in the post-Trump reality. According to The Edge, the controversial ex-reality TV star’s electoral college victory is a “pendulum [that] has suddenly just taken a huge swing in the other direction.” What’s more, he claims that the world has “somewhat come full circle” since the debut U2 album, The Joshua Tree, was released three decades ago.

At the time of the band’s freshman studio album, reports The Guardian, the world was drowning in the politics of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

“It was a period when there was a lot of unrest. It feels like we’re right back there in a way.”

While U2 has delayed the release of their latest album in response to the election of Donald Trump, they are not slowing down. In fact, U2 is just about ready to embark on their 30th anniversary tour for The Joshua Tree. The band is also reportedly considering writing some new songs for the delayed Songs of Experience, as they are not sure if the current track list is “really was what we wanted to say” in the wake of Trump’s rise to power.

What do you think? Do you support the decision of U2 to delay the release of their album in protest of Trump, or do you think that the band is behaving inappropriately and possibly even disappointing their fans?

[Featured Image by John Salangsang/Invision/AP Photo]

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