A legendary rock band surprised fans with new music, promising more to come this year.
U2 dropped “Days of Ash” on Wednesday, a.k.a. Ash Wednesday, featuring five new songs including a collaboration with Ed Sheeran (“Yours Eternally”). There’s also a poem, “Wildpeace,” that references recent events in Minneapolis, Iran and Palestine.
In a statement, U2 said the six-track record is “an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom.” Four songs tell the story of 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.”
Bono also promised U2 would release a full-length album later in 2026. It would be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group’s first LP since “Songs of Experience” in 2017.
“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 to the ones we’re going to put on our album later in the year,” said Bono.
“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.”
U2 guitarist The Edge added: “We believe in a world where borders are not erased by force. 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.”
U2 is a Grammy-winning rock band from Ireland known for hit songs like “With or Without You,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Beautiful Day,” “One,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “Desire” and “All I Want Is You.” The group last released “Songs of Experience” in 2017, but have kept busy in recent years with reissues of albums like “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” plus 40 reimagined versions of iconic tracks on 2023’s “Songs of Surrender” album.
U2 also made headlines in 2023 and 2024 with an acclaimed residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Bono recently told Esquire that the new album could also mean a tour later this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of U2’s formation.
“I hope they’re going to still be there for us,” Bono told the magazine, referring to the band’s fans. “We’ve pushed them to their elastic limit over the years. And now it’s a long time that we’ve been away. But I still think that we can create a soundtrack for people who want to take on the world.”