Bono Plays His Music So Loud, the Rest of the World Can Hear It

Bono, enjoying demos of the new U2 album in the South of France

I just sat down to my computer to see a somewhat bewildering tweet from Murmurs.com / Warner Brothers Records VP of Technology Ethan Kaplan that seemed right out of The Onion.  Once I clicked through to his blog and saw the link, I gradually realized that it seems like fact.

The suggestion (and if it’s a fabrication, I’ve completely fallen for it) is that four new tracks from U2’s forthcoming album tentatively titled No Line on the Horizon leaked to the internet when a fan recognized Bono’s voice emanating from a villa in Southern France.  The best part is that the source of these loud recordings came from Bono himself, apparently rocking out to the sounds of his own velvety pipes while on vacation.

I’ve commented on (and solicited information regarding) pre-release leaks to the internet, but this is the most unique story of an album making its way (albeit in a clearly inferior format) to the consumers before the street date.  I’m not really interested in this particular leak aside from hearing the sound quality of this random passerby’s camera/cell phone/whatever used to eavesdrop into Bono’s villa (I can wait to hear the new U2 songs).

Read the story for yourself here (via BlackRimGlasses).  I’m not sure that if I was in that fan’s position that I would be sharp enough to record the songs.  I’d certainly stop and listen, but I wouldn’t immediately grab my phone (well, until now at least).