U2 Releases Six-Track ‘Days of Ash’ EP for Ash Wednesday, With a Renée Good Tribute Track and Songs About Ukraine and Middle East Turmoil

Marking their first major release since the 2017 album "Songs of Experience," U2 has broken a period of standalone singles with a new six-song EP titled "Days of Ash." The band strategically chose Ash Wednesday for the drop, using the Christian day of reflection to frame a collection that wrestles with themes of mourning and dissent, often backed by urgent rock instrumentation. The opening cut, "American Obituary," functions as a direct tribute to Minneapolis homicide victim Renée Good, placing U2 alongside artists like Bruce Springsteen in a tradition of musical commentary on police violence. From there, the lyrics reach globally, acknowledging losses in Iran and Gaza while also drawing inspiration from admired individuals in Israel and Ukraine.

Notable collaborations shape the project, with global superstar Ed Sheeran co-writing and singing on the closing anthem "Yours Eternally." That track also features a poignant contribution from Ukrainian vocalist and active soldier Taras Topolia, creating a direct link to the ongoing conflict. The band has confirmed that a separate, full-length album with a more optimistic feel is still in the works. For now, all six EP tracks are streaming exclusively on digital services, supported by lyric videos on YouTube.

A companion 54-page issue of their iconic fanzine, *Propaganda*, offers deep context, including track-by-track notes from Bono. He describes "American Obituary" as "a song of fury… but more than that… a song of grief," connecting Good's death to a broader failure of institutional accountability. Regarding "Song of the Future," which honors Iran's schoolgirl uprising, Bono explains its intentionally open-ended conclusion mirrors the movement's brutal suppression, specifically memorializing 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, who was killed by morality police in 2022. As one critic notes in the publication, this EP represents a deliberate return to U2's roots as political agitators, a role cemented in the mid-1980s when they joined Amnesty International's pivotal "Conspiracy of Hope" tour, which significantly raised the organization's profile in the United States.

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. also contributes to the magazine, discussing his recent return to the studio after surgery that caused him to miss U2's groundbreaking Las Vegas residency at the Sphere—a venue famous for its revolutionary, immersive 16K wraparound screen. He details adjusting his playing style post-recovery and underscores the band's unwavering dedication to advocacy. "We've never shied away from taking a position," Mullen asserts. "Sometimes that can get messy, but it's a big side of who we are." He believes the current state of global conflict made releasing these urgent songs imperative. This urgency is further highlighted by the planned February 24th release of a short film for "Yours Eternally," a date marking four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

That documentary, helmed by acclaimed Ukrainian director Ilya Mikhaylus, will provide a powerful visual counterpart to the track featuring Topolia. Bono has characterized this creative phase as a necessary balance, describing the EP's "songs of defiance and dismay" as too immediate to hold back, while promising that the upcoming album will supply the "songs of celebration" required to offset darkness. This dualistic approach reaffirms the band's long-standing method of leveraging their platform to navigate between stark reality and hopeful uplift, a dynamic that has sustained their relevance across generations. As music historian Dr. Elara Vance notes, "U2's genius has always been in this pendulum swing—they document the wound and then attempt to offer the bandage, understanding that both are essential for an audience seeking meaning in their music."