U2 surprise release politically-charged ‘Days Of Ash’ EP: “These songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay”

U2 have surprise released a “defiant”, politically-charged EP called ‘Days Of Ash’, and announced a new one-off edition of their classic fanzine, Propaganda.

Arriving today (Wednesday February 18), the release features six tracks and is released via Island Records. Bono and co. describe it as a response to current events, and dedicate it to those fighting on the frontlines of freedom.

Four of the tracks are about individuals, and centre around a mother, a father, a teenage girl whose lives were cut short, as well as from the point of view of a soldier who laments at having to give up his dreams of creativity to go and defend the freedom of his country.

The opening track, ‘American Obituary’, makes reference to the events that unfolded in Minnesota on January 7, when a civilian called Renee Good was short and killed by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.

It is followed by another new song called ‘The Tears Of Things’, which examines, through the writings of the Jewish prophets, how one can live compassionately in a time of violence and despair. The lyrics also imagine a conversation between Michelangelo’s David and his creator, where the former rejects the idea that he has to become Goliath in order to defeat him.

‘Song of the Future’ was written to honour the life of 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, who was one of thousands of Iranian schoolgirls who took to the streets as part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in 2022. They came together following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in Tehran from injuries she sustained following her arrest for not wearing a hijab in accordance with government standards.

Esmailzadeh was detained by Iranian security forces and died from injuries, and the song from U2 looks to honour her for the efforts she made in her short life.

Also on the EP is a reading of Wildpeace – a poem by Israeli author and poet Yehuda Amichai – and a song called ‘One Life At A Time’. The latter is dedicated to a Palestinian father of three and teacher Awdah Hathaleen, who was killed in his village in the West Bank by an Israeli settler last year.

The EP ends with a song called ‘Yours Eternally’, which sees Bono and guitarist The Edge collaborate with Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier Taras Topolia. The track is written in the form of a letter from a soldier on active duty, and comes with a short documentary film directed by Ukrainian cinematographer and filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus.

The film captures the daily lives of Alina and her fellow soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war, and will be released on Tuesday February 24 –four years after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“It’s been a thrill having the four of us back together in the studio over the last year,” Bono shared, also revealing that a full album of new material will be arriving later in 2026.

“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,” he added.

“Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now… because for all the awfulness we see normalised 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.”

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. added that “these new songs stand up to our best work”, and said that the political nature of U2 is something they have embraced since their “earliest days”. “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,” he added.

Bassist Adam Clayton reiterated that the band belief the songs on the EP are “arriving at the right time”, and The Edge added: “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.”

To coincide with the new EP, U2 have also announced the return of their fanzine, Propaganda.

The first issue was shared by the band in February 1986, and was born out of the punk-era D.I.Y zine culture that embraced ideas and attitude. A new, one-off edition will be released to accompany the ‘Days Of Ash’ EP, and available in both print and digital formats.

It spans 52-pages, and features a Q&A with Bono, notes from his bandmates, exclusive interviews with ‘Yours Eternally’ film director Ilya Mikhaylus and film producer Pyotr Verzilov, and more. Check it out here.

The politically-charged new EP arrives following Bono sharing his thoughts on the best way to achieve freedom “in every part of the world where health and humanity are at risk” in op-ed for The Atlantic last year.

He wrote the piece ahead of receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the US. Since then, the singer has gone on to speak out about the Israel-Palestine crisis, saying Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions “feel like uncharted territory”, and also call for the release of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, who is imprisoned in an Israeli jail.