In advance of a new album in late 2026, the EP is a self-contained collection of five new songs and a poem - "American Obituary," "The Tears Of Things," "Song Of The Future," "Wildpeace," "One Life At A Time," and "Yours Eternally" (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) - an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom. Four of the five tracks are about individuals – a mother, a father, a 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.
“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. 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. Thank you.”
-Bono
“Who needs to hear a new record from us? It just depends on whether we’re making music we feel deserves to be heard. I believe these new songs stand up to our best work. We talk a lot about when to release new tracks. You don’t always know… the way the world is now feels like the right moment. Going way back to our earliest days, working with Amnesty or Greenpeace, we’ve never shied away from taking a position and sometimes that can get a bit messy, there’s always some sort of blowback, but it’s a big side of who we are and why we still exist.”
-Bono
“Who needs to hear a new record from us? It just depends on whether we’re making music we feel deserves to be heard. I believe these new songs stand up to our best work. We talk a lot about when to release new tracks. You don’t always know… the way the world is now feels like the right moment. Going way back to our earliest days, working with Amnesty or Greenpeace, we’ve never shied away from taking a position and sometimes that can get a bit messy, there’s always some sort of blowback, but it’s a big side of who we are and why we still exist.”
-Larry Mullen Jr.
“I’m excited about these new songs, it feels like they’re arriving at the right time.”
Adam Clayton
“I’m excited about these new songs, it feels like they’re arriving at the right time.”
Adam Clayton
“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.”
-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.”
-The Edge
"American Obituary" speaks to the shocking event the world witnessed in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 7, 2026 where Renée Nicole Macklin Good, an idealistic mother of three, was shot at almost point-blank range while exercising her right to peacefully protest, a right that is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This unarmed mother was then described as a “domestic terrorist” by a government who will not withdraw the description even though they know it’s not true. Or mount a proper enquiry into what happened for the sake of everyone involved.
"The Tears Of Things" borrows its title from a book by Franciscan friar Richard Rohr, which examines, through the writings of the Jewish prophets, how one can live compassionately in a time of violence and despair. The song imagines a conversation between Michelangelo’s David and his creator… where the young man with the sling and five smooth stones refuses the idea that he has to become Goliath to defeat him... he’s also revealed as having heart shaped pupils half a millennia before the heart shaped emoji, which puzzles visitors at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, to this day.
The star of the lyric, Sarina, in "Song of the Future" honors the life of 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, one of thousands of Iranian schoolgirls who took to the streets as part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in 2022. These protests were sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in Tehran on September 16th that year from injuries sustained following her arrest by the so-called "morality police" for not wearing a hijab in accordance with government standards. Seven days later, Sarina was beaten by the Iranian security forces and died from her injuries, the regime claiming she killed herself. The song aims to capture Sarina’s free spirit, the promise and hope of her short life.
The Days of Ash EP includes a reading of "Wildpeace" - a poem by Israeli author and poet Yehuda Amichai - by Nigerian artist Adeola of Les Amazones d'Afrique, with music by U2 and Jacknife Lee.
"One Life At A Time" is written for Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian father of three. A nonviolent activist and English teacher, Awdah was killed in his village in the West Bank by Israeli settler Yinon Levi on July 28th, 2025. Awdah was a consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” made by Palestinians and Israelis. At his funeral, one of the directors, Basel Adra, spoke of the slaughter of his friend and the experience of Palestinians being erased “one life at a time.” U2 took that line and turned it around to suggest that a peaceful resolution will be wrought “one life at a time.”
"Yours Eternally" sees Bono and The Edge joined on vocals by Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier Taras Topolia, as well as Ed Sheeran. In the spring of 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bono and The Edge traveled to Kyiv to busk in a metro station at the invitation of President Zelensky. A couple of days prior to that, Ed connected Taras Topolia, and by extension his band Antytila, with Bono. Bono, Taras and The Edge met for the first time on that subway platform. They’ve been friends ever since. Taras is the inspiration for "Yours Eternally," a song written in the form of a letter from a soldier on active duty with a bold, mischievous spirit to match Ukraine’s.
"Yours Eternally" will also be proudly accompanied by a short 4½ minute documentary film directed by Ukrainian cinematographer and filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, that will be released on Tuesday, February 24th - the 4th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shot in December 2025 while Mikhaylus and his crew were embedded alongside the 40,000-strong Khartiya Corps, the film captures the extraordinary daily lives of Alina and her fellow soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war.
U2 Days of Ash EP is accompanied by the return of Propaganda as a one-off digital zine, with a limited-edition print run. Forty years ago, in February 1986, the first issue of Propaganda dropped through the letterboxes of U2 fans around the world. Aspiring to match other fan magazines at that time, Propaganda was born out of the punk-era D.I.Y. zine culture that embraced attitude, ideas and dialogue. In the spirit of those early issues, this standalone EP will be accompanied by a one-off limited edition print run plus digital e-zine drop of Propaganda titled "U2 - Days Of Ash: Six Postcards From The Present… Wish We Weren’t Here."
This 52-page special publication accompanies the release of the Days Of Ash EP and includes exclusive interviews with "Yours Eternally" film director Ilya Mikhaylus and film producer Pyotr Verzilov, as well as musician and soldier Taras Topolia. It also includes song lyrics; notes from the four band members; plus a Q&A interview with Bono. Read Propaganda HERE.
Contributions in support of freedom and human rights will be made to the following organizations:
● Amnesty International - Amnesty.org
● The Committee to Protect Journalists - CPJ.org
● UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency - UNHCR.org
Contributions in support of freedom and human rights will be made to the following organizations:
● Amnesty International - Amnesty.org
● The Committee to Protect Journalists - CPJ.org
● UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency - UNHCR.org
The one-off special edition of Propaganda, "U2 - Days Of Ash: Six Postcards From The Present… Wish We Weren’t Here," is available digitally HERE and as a limited print run at select independent record stores across Europe and North America.
U2 Days of Ash - EP
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)
