Who’s ready for some U2 “reimagined and re-recorded” tracks? Set to be released on March 17, the Irish rock band’s new compilation album, called Songs Of Surrender, will be taking a look back at 40 songs.
Listen to U2 Radio and more on the free Audacy app
U2 quietly released a trailer for Songs of Surrender, which features images of the band from throughout their nearly 50 years together, soundtracked by a snippet of their new version of “Beautiful Day.”
The announcement follows fans being sent letters from the band’s guitarist The Edge teasing the new project.
In the letters, the musician told fans: “When a song becomes well known, it’s always associated with a particular voice. I can’t imagine ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ without the reedy timbre of Bob Dylan or ‘All The Time In The World’ without the unique voice of Louis Armstrong. So what happens when a voice develops and experience and maturity give it additional resonance?”
The Edge continued, explaining that most of U2’s work, “was written and recorded when we were a bunch of very young men” and that the songs had changed over the years to “mean something quite different to us now”. “Some have grown with us,” he wrote. “Some we have outgrown, but we have not lost sight of what propelled us to write those songs in the first place. The essence of those songs is still in us. But how to reconnect with that essence when we have moved on and grown so much?”
To close out the letter, he added that the bands natural evolution led them to bringing their old songs into the present day and giving them, “a 21st-century reimagining.” Noting,“once we surrendered our reverence for the original version, each song started to open up to a new authentic voice of this time, of the people we are now, and particularly the singer that Bono has become. I hope you like our new direction.”
While a tracklist is yet to be confirmed, the songs U2 have re-recorded could very likely be the tracks included in Bono’s 2022 book Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, as the memoir explored the origins of 40 key songs from the band’s discography, and Songs of Surrender promises 40 “reimagined and re-recorded” tracks.
UPDATE: See the album’s tracklist and artwork below, and hear the first single “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” now.
Songs of Surrender tracklist:
Side 1 – The Edge
01. One
02. Where The Streets Have No Name
03. Stories For Boys
04. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
05. Out Of Control
06. Beautiful Day
07. Bad
08. Every Breaking Wave
09. Walk On (Ukraine)
10. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Side 2 – Larry
01. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
02. Get Out Of Your Own Way
03. Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
04. Red Hill Mining Town
05. Ordinary Love
06. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
07. Invisible
08. Dirty Day
09. The Miracle Of Joey Ramone
10. City Of Blinding Lights
Side 3 – Adam
01. Vertigo
02. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
03. Electrical Storm
04. The Fly
05. If God Will Send His Angels
06. Desire
07. Until The End Of The World
08. Song For Someone
09. All I Want Is You
10. Peace On Earth
Side 4 – Bono
01. With Or Without You
02. Stay
03. Sunday Bloody Sunday
04. Lights Of Home
05. Cedarwood Road
06. I Will Follow
07. Two Hearts Beat As One
08. Miracle Drug
09. The Little Things That Give You Away
10. 40
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram