U2 hopes to achieve a more youthful glow by recruiting Swedish pop songwriter Carl Falk, the man behind British boy band One Direction.
On Monday, MTV reported that U2 “have the right team in mind to reinvigorate their sound with One Direction being the first ever UK group to debut at number one with their first album in the United States.”
According to The Sun in the UK last week, “Falk is the man with pop’s Midas touch.” He penned Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” and has collaborated with the Backstreet Boys, Taio Cruz, and Nicole Scherzinger.
U2 frontman Bono reportedly said he hopes the band’s upcoming 13th album will prove a greater success than their last, 2009’s No Line on the Horizon, which he is said to have claimed didn’t produced enough hit singles.
U2, one of the best-selling bands of all time, has sold more than 150 million records around the globe and last year wrapped up the highest-grossing music tour in history.
No official announcement has been made on the new album by the band. “It’s quite likely you might hear from us next year, but it’s equally possible that you won’t,” U2’s the Edge told Rolling Stone in an interview last year. “We have so many [new] songs, some of our best,” added Bono. “I’m putting some time aside to just go and get lost in the music.”