Producer Daniel Lanois gives update on new U2 album
In September, U2 frontman Bono informed fans through the band’s website that they would delay plans to release their forthcoming album till 2009. While the news came as a disappointment to fans, the band claims that their latest sessions have brought brought newfound success. Already, the band has worked on fifty-plus songs during sessions across the globe. So when we talked with the band’s longtime producer Daniel Lanois last week regarding his upcoming show and in-residency at Berklee College of Music, we had to sneak in a few questions about his work on the forthcoming album from the Irish rockers.
“We just did two weeks in New York,” Lanois informed Boston Music Spotlight. “We mixed in New York for two weeks and that went great. I’m seeing them right after Boston, in fact. I’m going to see them in England and we’re going to do another ten days there.” A short video clip of the recent sessions is now on U2.com.
When asked about how he and co-producers Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite work together, Lanois explained that each brings his own strengths to the studio. “Eno and I very much work together” he said. “In fact, that’s probably Eno’s most exciting position. He’s a great catalyst at the front end of the project, he’s a model ingredient, a highly intelligent one, and a non-stop source of sonic surprises.”
“What usually happens then is Eno stops coming by and then I take over and do more of the, you know, take care of the many chores that pile up that don’t have anything to do with spontaneous initial moments - vocal comps, remembering the best guitar riff moments,” Lanois continues. “I put a lot of time into chores. Lilywhite’s involvement historically has been at the back end, so he’s coming to help us out with mixes.”
Further describing his own role in the process, Lanois says, “I’m a very committed and dedicated worker and so my constancy, or consistency, is contagious in the room. I’ll be there on the front line with the footsoldiers.”
Those footsoldiers, Bono, Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, and Adam Clayton, have made the front lines for this album Morocco, France, and their hometown of Dublin, among other places.
Meanwhile, Lanois is gearing up for his upcoming appearance in Boston this weekend. Besides performing a rare solo show at the Berklee Performance Center on Sunday, Lanois will serve as an artist-in-residence from November 16 to 18. Stay tuned for a full feature later this week from our interview with Lanois.
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Producer Daniel Lanois gives update on new U2 album
I think it was many months ago that I said something here on U2diary.com about how I assumed I would be doing a lot of the book promotion myself … and I have been doing a lot of it myself, mainly via things like the interview contest last month, spreading book-related news on Facebook and other social media sites, etc.