'If you know the album, you'll see the themes in the visual language, how 'holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else's.' The shoot with Larry and his son was initially an experiment but everyone loved it as a visual metaphor for the record. He added: 'The idea of the unique relationship between a parent and child, the image of a father and son, came from the band. With this record we were looking for the raw, naked and personal, to strip everything back.' ' Songs Of Innocence is the most intimate album we've ever made. 'We've always been about community in U2, about family and friends,' says Bono. U2 say the album cover reflects 'the new songs and their inspiration in the early years of U2 as teenagers in Dublin.'Īccording to a statement on U2.com, the artwork by British fashion photographer and film director Glen Luchford, 'resonates with the band's iconic 1980 debut album Boy - and the album War, three years later.'īoth of those albums featured the face of Peter Rowen, the younger brother of Guggi, Bono's childhood friend growing up on Cedarwood Road in Dublin. The shot, a return to the band's monochrome eighties look, is a rare act of self-revelation from the media-shy Mullen. U2 have revealed the artwork for the physical release of their new album, Songs of Innocence, and it features intensely private drummer Larry Mullen Jr giving his 18-year-old son a protective embrace.

U2 album covers