U2's No Line On The Horizon was released worldwide on March 2/3, 2009, and earlier in some countries. There's already talk of another studio album coming out in 2009/2010 as a companion to NLOTH.

The following is a running collection of news, rumors, quotes, and other information related to U2's next studio album. We'll continue to post updates to this page as we get new information. If you have found a quote or news item about the new album, you're welcome to share it by emailing webmaster @ atu2.com.

ALBUM NAME: Bono told Rolling Stone the album will be called Songs Of Ascent

PRODUCER(s): unknown, but likely Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite since the songs are expected to be unused tracks from No Line On The Horizon

ALBUM RELEASE DATE: Depends what you read. In this Observer article and this NY Times article, it's said the next album will be out in 2009. But in the March 17 issue of Rolling Stone, they give 2010 as the date.

FORMATS: unknown

TRACKLIST: unknown

POSSIBLE SONGS MENTIONED

These are two types of songs listed below:

1. songs mentioned in the buildup to U2's new album
2. songs believed to be unused from previous albums

It's possible that some of these titles were changed and have already appeared under a different name. It's also possible that, as song titles changes, some of these may be referring to the same song.

• "Tripoli" (unused from No Line On The Horizon)
• "Winter" (unused from No Line On The Horizon)
• "Every Breaking Wave" (Bono told Rolling Stone this is a "surging anthem" and would be the first single.)
• "If I Could Live My Life Again" - Bono says this song is "inspired by the great Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges." Bono said he had just begun the song while speaking with author Michka Assayas in December, 2005. Their interview appears as the extra material in the paperback version of Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas.
• "Love Is All We Have Left" - a song Bono named during his May, 2006, trip to Africa as one that he had recently written. "It’s like an old Broadway tune. I thought it was a Frank Sinatra song," Bono said.
• "North Star," a song from the How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions which included a guest organ appearance from Michael W. Smith. In this CCM article, Smith describes the song as a tribute to Johnny Cash.
• "Mercy", one of the last songs to get cut from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, described in Blender magazine as "a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish"
• "Lead Me In The Way I Should Go" -- a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in this February, 2003, interview with Bono in Grammy Magazine
• "You Can't Give Away Your Heart" - a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in SPIN magazine

LATEST NEWS

June 21, 2009: This Irish Independent article seems to dash any plans for releasing the album in 2009:

"While a spring release date had been mentioned, Bono seems to damping down that expectation now, saying that while they have nine pieces of music that they think are really special, the album will only come out if and when it is as good or better than No Line. And it certainly won't come out, as was reported in some media, this year. Bono is unashamedly clear that he wants No Line on the Horizon to be the U2 product that gets bought this Christmas."

March 24, 2009: In an interview with Hot Press magazine, Paul McGuinness expresses doubts over U2 releasing a new album in 2009:

"I can't see how, but we did that once before on the Zoo TV tour – the Zooropa album came out. But I remember the sheer effort of flying back to Dublin every night of the European tour to work on that album and then fly out again a day or so later – it nearly killed the band. They should remember that period if they think about doing it again. Nothing would surprise me, but it's certainly not something I would have expected."

March 3, 2009: The March 17 issue of Rolling Stone quotes Bono saying the next album will be called Songs Of Ascent, and that it will be released in 2010.

"Songs Of Ascent will be quieter than No Line in many ways, it's that ghost album of hymns and Sufi singing. We're making a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflexive piece of work, but not indulgent."

February 28, 2009: A New York Times article says that "U2 expects to release a companion album, which band members say will have a more meditative and processional tone, before the end of the year."

February 15, 2009: This Observer article reports that U2 is planning to release another album before the end of 2009. Bono describes it as "a more meditative album on the theme of pilgrimage."