U2 go a bit Paul Simon, a bit Donald Trump

Bono has been talking about the next U2 album, which - depending on your point of view - will either bring a refreshing African sensibility to the record, or else attempt to patch up the clapped-out warhorse by slapping some African sounds over the top.

Oh, and they're going dance:

"Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dancefloor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences. But there's some very hardcore guitar coming out of the Edge. Real molten metal. It's not like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either."

So, that's Afro-trance-dance-metal, then. Or 'lobbing everything into the mix in a desperate attempt to hope something sticks', as it's also known.

Meanwhile, the band's unlovely U2 tower in Dublin and plans to revamp The Clarence Hotel on the Liffey are continuing to draw criticism, now from Irish heritage body An Taisce:

"Our biggest concern is that the U2 Tower will stick out of the skyline from parts of Georgian Dublin like Merrion Square. It could potentially be an incongruous blot on the skyline on the south side of the city," said Ian Lumley, An Taisce's national heritage officer. [...]

"Since 2000 Ireland has had strong protection for listed buildings which are now called 'protected structures'," Smith said. "In the case of The Clarence the developers' belief that there is an exceptional need to pander to international five-star punters' alleged insistence on underground parking and swimming pools is unlikely to pass muster ... If An Bord Pleanála say yes I will go straight to the high court to block what U2 are planning."

It's a little hard to see how Bono can claim to be worried about Africa while proposing changes to the Clarence that will increase car use in Dublin, further harming the environment.