Bono promises a new U2 album format that will “tempt people into buying music again”

Bono has spoken about ambitious plans for releasing music in the future, for the first time since putting out U2’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ surprise album for free, in collaboration with Apple’s iTunes.

Devices attached to iCloud received the album for free without any prompt, sparking a huge discussion on the future of digital music and the ability to curate.

In an interview with TIME, Bono is promising a new format of digital content that will “tempest people into buying music again.”

He’s describing the initiative, which again looks set to be in partnership with Apple, as “an audiovisual interactive format for music that can’t be pirated and will bring back album artwork in the most powerful way, where you can play with the lyrics and get behind the songs when you’re sitting on the subway with your iPad or on these big flat screens. You can see photography like you’ve never seen it before.”

The U2 frontman is targeting this release for 18 months time, which may land alongside the release of ‘Songs of Innocence’ sequel ‘Songs of Experience’.

Speaking about last week’s surprise release, Bono called it a “sacrament… to harness digital.”