U2 guitarist The Edge told NME that none of the material the band worked on with super-producer Rick Rubin will be featured on their 12th studio album, which is tentatively titled No Line on the Horizon and slated to be released in February of 2009.
Of Rubin, Edge said: “We actually laid all that stuff to one side. Really out of deference to Rick and that set of songs we just said, OK, that’s that, and we drew a line. So none of the Rick material went into this project. Everything has been written subsequently.” The Metallica and Johnny Cash producer was also instrumental in changing the band’s long-standing recording process. “He gave us great advice as much as anything,” said the Edge. “His whole thing is, ‘Don’t go near the studio until you know exactly what you want to do’, which, of course, is the opposite of how we usually work.”
The album will instead be produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the team responsible for several of U2’s most acclaimed albums, including 1987’s The Joshua Tree and 1991’s Achtung Baby.
As for the album’s working title, Edge calls it an “image of infinity.” He claims the idea came from singer Bono, which is “like when you’re moving forward, but you’re not exactly sure what you’re heading towards – that moment where the sea and the sky blend into one. It’s an image of infinity, I suppose – a kind of Zen image.”
No Line on the Horizon is tentatively scheduled for February 2009, and will be followed by a world tour.
