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The song has previously been heard briefly when U2 played a surprise show in front of the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this month (September 16). The band were filming the music video for the song.
The song is a nod to Las Vegas, where the band are due to take up their forthcoming residency at the new MSG Sphere in the city. The run of shows, which are the first to be played at the new venue, will kick off on September 29 and will see them play their 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’ in full.
‘Atomic City’ was a nickname for Vegas in the 1950s due to its proximity to the Nevada Test Site at a time when nuclear fascination swept America.
Those who heard the song in September said it contained the lyrics “I’m free, so unexpectedly/I’m free from what’s in front of me!” and “I’ve got the key to the cages, waiting for my dice/I came here for the fight/I’m front row in Las Vegas. And there’s a big one on tonight”.
Produced by Jacknife Lee and Steve Lillywhite, the new song was recorded at Sound City in LA. A statement about the song describes it as a “homage to the magnetic spirit of ’70’s post punk with a nod to Blondie, whose pioneering work with Giorgio Moroder inspired and influenced the band.”
Bono said of the song: “It’s a love song to our audience …’where you are is where I’ll be’.”
You can see the video teaser of the song, along with the single artwork below:
‘Atomic City’ artwork – CREDIT: Press/U2
The video is directed by Ben Kutchins, with creative direction by Tarik Mikou with Moment Factory Music, and features U2’s late night surprise performance in Vegas last week. The video was filmed in the same Fremont Street location where the band filmed their video for ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ 36 years ago.
U2 will be playing the first few shows of their ‘Achtung Baby’ residency without drummer Larry Mullen Jr while he recovers from surgery. Despite this, he was present at the music video shoot.
“He doesn’t follow doctor’s orders,” Bono remarked during the video shoot, to which the audience cheered.
In an interview with the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column (via Irish Mirror), bassist Adam Clayton said: “The whole band and I’m sure the audience are going to be very sad and miss Larry. He wants to come back, he wants to be able to have a long career and continue his drumming so he’s taking care of those injuries.”
He also explained that, while Mullen continues to recover, Krezip drummer Bram van den Berg will be taking his place and performing at the first run of Nevada shows. This, Clayton continued, was a choice which the band decided on after they were given their bandmate’s blessing.
In other U2 news, last week the band announced ‘Zoo Station’ – an immersive experience for fans, designed ahead of their upcoming shows.
Opening on September 28, the immersive fan portal, called ‘Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience’ is designed to help fans gather a deeper understanding of the band’s acclaimed album ‘Achtung Baby’.
The post U2 share teaser of new single ‘Atomic City’ appeared first on NME.
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