Earnie Shavers
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Listen to the Shins, and then Broken Bells. Broken Bells is a collaboration between the Shins singer and Danger Mouse. If you listen to the Shins first, you'll see how DM has sort of 'stepped up' or redirected that sound/feel without taking away from it. If you don't like Broken Bells, you probably won't like the Shins, but you'll see my point, and that is how I imagine it will be with U2.
And its not in any way an indication of his sound overall, only that you can easily recognise his fingerprints on it, if you know his stuff well enough. A lot of people name-checked Broken Bells immediately simply because it is a widely liked, very recent album. His resume is pretty wide. I could imagine a U2 album with him having a song or two that leans in a way in the BB direction/sound/feel, but certainly not over the whole thing.
I'm excited about it because it represents to me the possibility that they've hooked up with someone who they can work with in a similar truly creative/collaborative fashion as they did with Eno/Lanois (which I think they need), but, well, new and different. I would expect it to be similar to Eno/Lanois in as much as it will be distinctively U2, just replace the 'colours' of the sonic foundation Eno/Lanois brought with new ones. To what degree - no idea, obviously, but it's nothing to worry about.
Their 'rock edge and ambient brilliance' as you describe it, could be - and likely will be - there by the bucketload. Easily. I can imagine very crisp, bright, clear rock singles, if that's what they have or want. Or I could just as easily imagine more complex, dark, stormy material too. It could be a pretty straight forward U2 album with a new twist, or it could be a wholly new turn in sound and style. But it's certainly nothing to fear.
And its not in any way an indication of his sound overall, only that you can easily recognise his fingerprints on it, if you know his stuff well enough. A lot of people name-checked Broken Bells immediately simply because it is a widely liked, very recent album. His resume is pretty wide. I could imagine a U2 album with him having a song or two that leans in a way in the BB direction/sound/feel, but certainly not over the whole thing.
I'm excited about it because it represents to me the possibility that they've hooked up with someone who they can work with in a similar truly creative/collaborative fashion as they did with Eno/Lanois (which I think they need), but, well, new and different. I would expect it to be similar to Eno/Lanois in as much as it will be distinctively U2, just replace the 'colours' of the sonic foundation Eno/Lanois brought with new ones. To what degree - no idea, obviously, but it's nothing to worry about.
Their 'rock edge and ambient brilliance' as you describe it, could be - and likely will be - there by the bucketload. Easily. I can imagine very crisp, bright, clear rock singles, if that's what they have or want. Or I could just as easily imagine more complex, dark, stormy material too. It could be a pretty straight forward U2 album with a new twist, or it could be a wholly new turn in sound and style. But it's certainly nothing to fear.