{"id":372534,"date":"2026-04-03T06:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/372534\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T06:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:42:08","slug":"u2-releases-easter-lily-bands-second-all-new-ep-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/372534\/","title":{"rendered":"U2 Releases ‘Easter Lily,’ Band’s Second All-New EP of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tU2<\/a>, which until this year had not released a batch of newly written material since 2017, is really starting to prolifically make up for lost time. At the stroke of midnight on the east coast, as Good Friday was ushered in, the band released \u201cEaster Lily,\u201d its second six-song EP of 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith this release, U2 has bookended Lent with two very different collections. This new one follows on the heels of \u201cDays of Ash,\u201d which came out for Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18. That six-song set was largely concerned with war and strife in different parts of the world, while \u201cEaster Lily,\u201d as the title might suggest, has gentler and more spiritually themed material.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe track list for the new EP:<\/p>\n

\n\tSong for Hal
In a Life
Scars
Resurrection Song
Easter Parade
COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?) \u2013 ft. a new soundscape by Brian Eno<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with \u201cDays of Ash,\u201d \u201cEaster Lily\u201d is only being offered digitally, not as an LP or CD release, and arrives with an epic version of Propaganda, their newly revived fan magazine. Links to the music and the digital issue of Propaganda can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBono<\/a> shared a note with fans, once again assuring them that a new album is still in the works, and that these EPs are side detours on the way to a wholly separate full-length.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are in the studio, still working towards a noisy, messy, \u2018unreasonably colourful\u2019 album to play LIVE\u2026 which is where U2 lives,\u201d the singer wrote. \u201cWe still look to vivid rock \u2018n\u2019 roll as an act of resistance against all this awfulness on our small screens. These are for sure \u2018wilderness years\u2019 for so many of us looking at the mayhem out there in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued, \u201cIt\u2019s a time that has our band digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment\u2026 With \u2018Easter Lily\u2019 we ended up asking very personal questions like: Are our own relationships up to these challenging times? How hard do you fight for friendship? Can our faith survive the mangling of meaning that those algorithms love to reward?\u00a0Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apart\u2026? Or are there answers to find in its crevices? Are there ceremonies, rituals, dances that we might be missing in our lives? From the rite of Spring to Easter and its promise of rebirth and renewal\u2026 Patti Smith\u2019s album \u2018Easter\u2019 gave me so much hope when it was released in 1978. I wasn\u2019t yet 18. The title is a nod to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBono concluded, cheekily, \u201cWe will attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date to remind the rest of the world we exist but in the meantime\u2026 this is between you and us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAn announcement about the EP described the individual songs as follows:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Song for Hal\u2019\u00a0is a COVID-19\u00a0lockdown lament, with the Edge<\/a> on lead vocals, written for the band\u2019s friend, the music-maker, Hal Willner, who would have turned 70 on Easter Monday and passed away almost 6 years ago to the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018In a Life\u2019\u00a0is a song celebrating friendship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Scars\u2019 is a song of encouragement and acceptance; scars and all, with a twist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Resurrection Song\u2019\u00a0is about pilgrimage, a road trip into the unknown with a lover or friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Easter Parade\u2019\u00a0is a devotional song, a celebration of new life, rebirth and resurrection.\u00a0\u2018<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)\u2019\u00a0is a lullaby for parents of children caught up in war, featuring a soundscape by Brian Eno.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U2, which until this year had not released a batch of newly written material since 2017, is really…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[14963,146,85,46,409,37096,17820],"class_list":{"0":"post-372534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-bono","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-the-edge","14":"tag-u2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}