Adam Clayton says U2 plan to channel Patti Smith and Iggy Pop on gnarly rock album

U2 plan to channel Patti Smith and Iggy Pop on their upcoming album.

Bassist Adam Clayton has teased what fans can expect from their next studio effort, which is the opposite of their planned ‘Songs of Ascent’ record.

Adam told MOJO magazine: “We are turning the amps on. I certainly think the rock that we all grew up with as 16- and 17-year-olds, that rawness of those Patti Smith, Iggy Pop records… that kind of power is something we would love to connect back into.”

Asked if it will be different from ‘Songs Of Ascent’, he replied: “Well, ‘Songs Of Ascent’ is a much more meditative, spiritual record. This will be ‘Songs For Fighting’, I’d say.”

Bono put ‘Songs of Ascent’ on hold because he wants U2 to release a “noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album” first.

The frontman revealed in October that the upcoming record – which the group have been teasing since 2009 – won’t be their next LP because he is keen to first drop an AC/DC-style rock record.

He said: “We all make mistakes. The progressive-rock virus gets in, and we needed a vaccine. The discipline of our songwriting, the thing that made U2 – top-line melody, clear thoughts – had gone.

“With the band, I was like, this is not what we do, and we can only do that experimental stuff if we have the songwriting chops. So we went to songwriting school, and we’re back and we’re good! Over those two albums, ‘Songs Of Innocence and Experience’, our songwriting returned. Now we need to put the firepower of rock ‘n’ roll back.

“I don’t know who is going to make our f***-off rock ‘n’ roll album. You almost want an AC/DC, you want Mutt Lange. The approach. The discipline. The songwriting discipline. That’s what we want.”

But Bono believes U2’s time for having hits could be over, so he is keen to create a “f***-off-to-the-pop-charts rock ‘n’ roll song.”

He added to The New York Times newspaper: “I would have loved to have a pop song on the radio. Probably we’ve run a road on that.

“So right now I want to write the most unforgiving, obnoxious, defiant, f***-off-to-the-pop-charts rock ‘n’ roll song that we’ve ever made.

“I spoke to Edge about it this week. He’s going, ‘Is it that call again?’ ‘What call?’ ‘The one about we’re going to write the big f***-off rock song?’

“And I say, ‘Yeah, it’s our job!’ We can make songs famous now, but I don’t think U2 can make them hits.”