Key Takeaways
- New EP: U2 has released a six-track EP titled U2 — Days of Ash today.
- Inspiration: The EP responds to current events and honors those fighting for freedom.
- Content: It features five new songs and a poem addressing recent global issues.
- Upcoming Album: U2 is working on a new album set to release later this year.
U2 has released a new six-track EP titled U2 — Days of Ash, which arrived today, Ash Wednesday.
According to a press release announcing the record, the EP is “an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom.”
The EP contains five new songs and a poem about recent events in Minneapolis, Iran, and Palestine. You can listen to the songs on U2’s new EP, U2 — Days of Ash, on all streaming services.
Hear U2’s ‘American Obituary’
Hear U2’s ‘Song of the Future’
The band notes that four of the five songs are about a mother, father, and teenage girl “whose lives were brutally cut short. A soldier who’d rather be singing but is ready to die for the freedom of his country.”
READ MORE: How U2 Got Back on Track With ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’
“It’s been a thrill having the four of us back together in the studio over the last year … the songs on Days of Ash are very different in mood and theme from the ones we’re going to put on our album later in the year,” said Bono in the press release.
u2 days of ash
“These EP tracks couldn’t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation. Songs of celebration will follow; we’re working on those now … because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing normal about these mad and maddening times, and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future. And each other.
“‘If you have a chance to hope, it’s a duty … ‘ is a line we borrowed from Lea Ypi. A laugh would be nice, too.”
What’s on U2’s ‘U2 — Days of Ash’ EP?
U2 — Days of Ash includes “American Obituary,” “The Tears of Things,” “Song of the Future,” the poem “Wildpeace,” “One Life at a Time,” and “Yours Eternally” featuring Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia.
Hear U2’s ‘The Tears of Things’
“We believe in a world where borders are not erased by force,” noted the Edge. “Where culture, language, and memory are not silenced by fear. Where the dignity of a people is not negotiable. This belief isn’t temporary. It isn’t political fashion. It’s the ground we stand on. And we stand there together.”
You can see the track listing for U2 — Days of Ash below.
When Will U2 Release a New Album?
U2 is currently working on a new album, which is scheduled for release later this year. The album marks the band’s first LP since 2023’s Songs of Surrender, which included reworked versions of past U2 songs, and first to feature new material since 2017’s Songs of Experience.
Hear U2’s ‘One Day at a Time’
In 2024, U2 released How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb, a collection of outtakes from their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
U2, ‘U2 — Days of Ash’ Track Listing
1. American Obituary
2. The Tears of Things
3. Song of The Future
4. Wildpeace – by Yehuda Amichai, read by Adeola, with music by U2 and Jacknife Lee.
5. One Life At A Time
6. Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia)
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Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
