U2, which until this year had not released a batch of newly written material since 2017, is really starting to prolifically make up for lost time. At the stroke of midnight on the east coast, as Good Friday was ushered in, the band released โEaster Lily,โ its second six-song EP of 2026.
With this release, U2 has bookended Lent with two very different collections. This new one follows on the heels of โDays of Ash,โ which came out for Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18. That six-song set was largely concerned with war and strife in different parts of the world, while โEaster Lily,โ as the title might suggest, has gentler and more spiritually themed material.
The track list for the new EP:
Song for Hal
In a Life
Scars
Resurrection Song
Easter Parade
COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?) โ ft. a new soundscape by Brian Eno
As with โDays of Ash,โ โEaster Lilyโ is only being offered digitally, not as an LP or CD release, and arrives with an epic version of Propaganda, their newly revived fan magazine. Links to the music and the digital issue of Propaganda can be found here.
Bono shared a note with fans, once again assuring them that a new album is still in the works, and that these EPs are side detours on the way to a wholly separate full-length.
โWe are in the studio, still working towards a noisy, messy, โunreasonably colourfulโ album to play LIVEโฆ which is where U2 lives,โ the singer wrote. โWe still look to vivid rock โnโ roll as an act of resistance against all this awfulness on our small screens. These are for sure โwilderness yearsโ for so many of us looking at the mayhem out there in the world.โ
He continued, โItโs a time that has our band digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the momentโฆ With โEaster Lilyโ we ended up asking very personal questions like: Are our own relationships up to these challenging times? How hard do you fight for friendship? Can our faith survive the mangling of meaning that those algorithms love to reward?ย Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apartโฆ? Or are there answers to find in its crevices? Are there ceremonies, rituals, dances that we might be missing in our lives? From the rite of Spring to Easter and its promise of rebirth and renewalโฆ Patti Smithโs album โEasterโ gave me so much hope when it was released in 1978. I wasnโt yet 18. The title is a nod to her.โ
Bono concluded, cheekily, โWe will attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date to remind the rest of the world we exist but in the meantimeโฆ this is between you and us.โ
An announcement about the EP described the individual songs as follows:
โโSong for Halโย is a COVID-19ย lockdown lament, with the Edge on lead vocals, written for the bandโs friend, the music-maker, Hal Willner, who would have turned 70 on Easter Monday and passed away almost 6 years ago to the day.ย
โโIn a Lifeโย is a song celebrating friendship.ย
โโScarsโ is a song of encouragement and acceptance; scars and all, with a twist.ย
โโResurrection Songโย is about pilgrimage, a road trip into the unknown with a lover or friend.ย
โโEaster Paradeโย is a devotional song, a celebration of new life, rebirth and resurrection.ย โ
โโCOEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)โย is a lullaby for parents of children caught up in war, featuring a soundscape by Brian Eno.โ
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