When the Blues Brothers got their band back together, they claimed to be “on a mission from God,” and that sounds similar to the story Daniel Lanois has described for the making of U2’s forthcoming album, No Line On The Horizon.
Rolling Stone reports Lanois said that when U2 was deciding where to record their album, “Bono wanted to be at a spiritual Mecca.” He added: “We worked in France, New York and London, but Bono felt that [Morocco] was the spiritual crossroads of the world right now, so we rented out an old Riad hotel and brought in all of our own equipment.”
Bono not only wanted to make the album in a spiritual location, but he also wanted the music itself to have a spiritual tone. “He thought that our job was to create contemporary gospel music,” the producer said, adding, “we are essentially soul musicians that look for soul in what we do.”
U2 reportedly worked with multiple producers in the making of No Line On The Horizon, including Lanois, Brian Eno, and Will.i.am. The band scrapped their initial sessions with Rick Rubin last year, opting for a more familiar recording process. The album currently has a March 3, 2009 U.S. release date.