U2’s the Edge explained the chemistry behind his and Bono’s songwriting process in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “It’s not like Lennon and McCartney where there’s two guys [and] the rivalry probably made them better,” he told Lowe while sitting beside Bono. “They’re also basically doing the same thing – singers and songwriters. I do a lot of music composition, but I need Bono to finish the song, so we complement each other; we don’t ever cancel each other out. It’s additive.”
“So we shine brighter working together than we ever could on our own, and I think that’s why the band is still together, as much as the friendships are sort of the same,” he continued, “meaning, the friendships are real, and they work.”
Lowe’s full interview, which takes place in and around a camper somewhere in the desert, like some Joshua Tree–themed reboot of Breaking Bad, will premiere on Apple Music 1 today at 10 a.m. PT.
The Q&A comes ahead of the release of Songs of Surrender, U2’s new album, on which they strip down and reconfigure 40 of their biggest hits and songs that have been pivotal to their career. The recording complements Bono’s recent memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. Earlier this year, they debuted a new version of “With or Without You.”
“We are firmly locked in the tower of song and working away on a bunch of new things,” the Edge told Rolling Stone in 2021. “I’m just having so much fun writing and not necessarily having to think about where it’s going to go. It’s more about enjoying the experience of writing and having no expectations or limitations on the process.”
The band will launch the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas this fall by performing their celebrated 1991 album, Achtung Baby! Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., who is recovering from surgery, will be replaced by Bram van der Berg at the shows. “It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right,” the other three members said in a joint statement.
