U2 have surprise-released a new six-song EP, ‘Days of Ash,’ arriving in conjunction with Ash Wednesday. The project features five new band compositions and a poem by Yehuda Amichai, alongside a collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia, who previously joined the band for a 2022 performance in Kyiv.
Recorded over the past year, the EP centers on real lives cut short, including Minneapolis mother Renée Good, Iranian schoolgirl Sarina Esmailzadeh and Palestinian father Awdah Hathaleen. The track “Yours Eternally” will also receive a short documentary directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, set for release next week on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“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,” Bono said in a press release. “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.”
Alongside the EP, U2 are reviving their long-running Propaganda zine with a 52-page issue titled ‘U2 – Days of Ash: Six Postcards From The Present… Wish We Weren’t Here.’ The publication includes lyrics, notes from each band member, a Bono Q&A and interviews tied to the “Yours Eternally” film. A new full-length album is slated for late 2026, following 2023’s ‘Songs of Surrender.’