If the world insists on spiralling, U2 insist on soundtracking it.
The Dublin band has released a new surprise EP titled Days of Ash, a project described in a press release as an “immediate response to current events” and inspired by “extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom.”
In other words: this is U2 at their most urgent, unflinching, and unashamedly political.
“These EP tracks couldn’t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world,” Bono said in a statement. “They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation.”
“Songs of celebration will follow,” he said. “We’re working on those now.” But first comes this.
Days of Ash begins in outrage with ‘American Obituary’, and then moves through mourning, to reach the conclusion not that everything will be okay, but that people will always dream of it.
American Obituary, the opening track, honours Renée Good, who was killed by an ICE agent 7th of January 2026.
Song of the Future” pays tribute to 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, who joined thousands of Iranian schoolgirls protesting in 2022 as part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
The EP closes with ‘Yours Eternally,’ a collaboration that brings together Bono and U.K. pop juggernaut Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier Taras Topolia.
Topolia’s band, Antytila, previously teamed up with Sheeran on a 2022 version of ‘2step.’ After Sheeran introduced Topolia to U2, Bono wrote ‘Yours Eternally’ as a letter from a soldier on active duty.
The song arrives alongside a short documentary directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, capturing the daily lives of Alina and fellow soldiers fighting on the frontlines.
To mark the EP’s release, the band have also announced the return of Propaganda, their original fan club zine first launched in 1986 at the height of DIY punk-era print culture.
A one-off edition will accompany Days of Ash, available in both print and digital formats.
If this is the sound of a band unwilling to look away, it’s also the sound of one insisting that protest still has a pulse. Celebration may be coming later this year, but for now it’s time to contend with the ash.
