“I thought the exercise they mounted yesterday was absolutely spectacular and a huge success; a new way of distributing music to the world,” he proffers. “I think it stunned everyone. I’m just working through the worldwide press and the two things to come out of that are, first of all, astonishment that they were able to do it and do it secretly, but also how good the record is. There seems to be near unanimity on that.
“I heard the complete album a few days ago and it’s brilliant. It’s U2 yet again doing their best work late into their career.”
Paul goes on to debunk the idea that the band are taking a financial hit on Songs Of Innocence.
“The way they have released it is obviously extraordinary,” he resumes. “I think you have to read the detail; Bono has an interview today in Time magazine and he points out that it’s not free. He’s absolutely opposed to free. It may be free to the consumer but I can assure you that Apple will haves paid a very high price to U2 and Universal Records for the right to do that.”
As for live dates, Paul reckons U2 fans are in for an exciting 2015.
“I think you can expect a major tour starting next summer that will in every way be what people expect of U2 - groundbreaking, unique and world-beating.”