Lead: U2 have issued Days of Ash, their first collection of new songs since 2017, a six‑track EP released in February 2026 that addresses several high‑profile deaths and global conflicts. The record opens with a track about the killing of Renee Good on 7 January during an anti‑ICE protest in Minneapolis and moves through subjects including Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom movement and violence in the West Bank. Bono uses the release and an accompanying fanzine interview to call for accountability, to denounce what he describes as the erosion of truth, and to link cultural expression with civic responsibility. The band also confirmed a separate full album due later in 2026.
Key takeaways
- Days of Ash is a six‑song EP, U2’s first new collection of original material since the 2017 album Songs of Experience.
- The opening track, American Obituary, centres on Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother of three shot on 7 January while protesting ICE activity.
- Song of the Future addresses the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran and names Sarina Esmailzadeh, who died in September 2022 at age 16, as documented by Amnesty International.
- One Life at a Time memorialises Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist killed in the West Bank in July 2025; Bono described the killing as “heinous.”
- Yours Eternally features Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian musician‑soldier Taras Topolia; a short documentary tied to the song will be released on 24 February 2026.
- Bono criticises ICE, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in interviews tied to the release, while calling for independent inquiry into Good’s death.
- The band says a distinct full‑length album — with a more celebratory, carnival‑like tone — is planned for later in 2026.
Background
U2 have long combined rock songwriting with public advocacy, partnering historically with organisations such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace and often foregrounding political themes in their music. The group’s last album of new material was Songs of Experience in 2017; since then they have issued reworkings, archival releases and occasional singles, but no new EP or album of original songs until Days of Ash. That gap framed public expectation: fans and critics have watched for whether the band would return to overt political commentary or pivot toward lighter themes.
The subjects on Days of Ash reflect contemporary flashpoints: US immigration enforcement and policing, the women’s rights movement in Iran, the Israeli‑Palestinian violence that flared catastrophically on 7 October, the war in Ukraine and conflicts in Sudan. Bono frames the EP as a reaction to what he calls a shrinking space for shared truth and civic discourse, and the band situates these songs as immediate responses that could not wait for the planned full album later in the year.
Main event
Days of Ash was released with an accompanying fanzine — a continuation of the Propaganda zines U2 used in the 1980s — in which Bono and other band members expand on the songs’ contexts. The EP opens with American Obituary, a hard‑edged track that focuses on Renee Good, who was shot and killed on 7 January while protesting actions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. Bono describes Good in the fanzine as committed to non‑violent civil disobedience and demands an independent inquiry into her death.
Another track, Song of the Future, invokes the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran and references Sarina Esmailzadeh, who died in September 2022 at 16; Amnesty International’s investigation is cited in the song’s public notes. Bono’s lyrics and commentary criticise theocratic repression and frame the protests as a generational call for rights and dignity. The EP’s Tears of Things takes its name from a Richard Rohr book and imagines a cultural conversation through art and scripture, while the record closes with Yours Eternally.
Yours Eternally features guest vocals from Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia, the Ukrainian musician who later joined the armed defence against the Russian invasion. Sheeran initially introduced Topolia to Bono and the Edge after the three performed together in a Kyiv metro station converted to a bomb shelter on 8 May 2022; the song is presented as a soldier’s letter. A short documentary directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, filmed alongside frontline units, is scheduled for release on 24 February 2026 to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Band members spoke candidly in the zine and interviews: The Edge reaffirmed a commitment to cultural plurality and the defence of memory; Larry Mullen Jr reflected on returning to drumming after neck surgery; and Adam Clayton emphasised restraint in rushing to judgment and the importance of tolerance. Bono framed the EP as urgent protest songs, while promising the forthcoming album will be more overtly celebratory and rhythmically buoyant.
Analysis & implications
The EP’s concentrated focus on recent deaths and protests turns a veteran stadium act into a platform for immediate moral commentary, testing how mass‑market musicians can shape public conversations. By pairing specific incidents — Renee Good’s killing, Sarina Esmailzadeh’s death, Awdah Hathaleen’s killing — with broader denunciations of political actors, U2 seek to humanise headline stories and push for accountability. That choice will resonate with listeners already sympathetic to their activism, but it also risks polarising audiences who view pop music and protest differently.
Bono’s critique of political leaders and institutions — including his references to ICE, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu — frames the EP as more than artistic reflection: it’s a call to civic scrutiny. Artists invoking international crises can amplify calls for inquiries, humanitarian attention and policy debate; whether that leads to measurable policy change depends on many actors beyond a single record, including lawmakers, courts and civil society organisations.
The band’s promise of a separate, more celebratory album later in 2026 suggests a two‑track cultural strategy: urgent protest now, communal uplift later. For U2’s long‑standing audience, this alternation reinforces the band’s identity as both political barometer and entertainer. Internationally, their high profile may push the named issues back into mainstream coverage, especially among demographics that still respond to music‑led storytelling.
Comparison & data
| Year | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Album: Songs of Experience | Last full album of new material before Days of Ash |
| 2022 | One‑off tracks / performances | Included Kyiv metro performance (8 May 2022) |
| 2023 | Songs of Surrender | Reworked versions of earlier songs |
| 2024 | Unreleased session material | Archival releases from 2004 sessions |
| 2026 | EP: Days of Ash | Six new songs addressing recent global incidents |
The table shows that Days of Ash is the most concentrated release of newly written material from U2 in nearly a decade. Between 2017 and 2026 the band issued reworkings and archival material, but not a compact EP of fresh songs addressing immediate political events. That pattern highlights Days of Ash as a distinct entry in U2’s discography: a brief, topical record rather than a conventional studio album.
Reactions & quotes
Band statements and public commentary have mixed artistic intent with moral urgency. Bono framed the EP as resisting what he described as the erosion of truth and language in public life, and he urged formal scrutiny in at least one case.
“If you let people get away with that, you can kiss your democracy goodbye,”
Bono, in the accompanying fanzine interview
Edge emphasised cultural plurality as foundational to the band’s stance, linking music to broader questions of memory and dignity.
“We believe in a world where borders are not erased by force… This belief isn’t temporary,”
The Edge, fanzine note
Larry Mullen Jr reflected on his recovery and the role of activism in the band’s identity, noting that taking positions can prompt blowback but remains central to U2’s purpose.
“Going way back to our earliest days… we’ve never shied away from taking a position,”
Larry Mullen Jr, interview excerpt
Unconfirmed
- The specific attribution in some commentary that Kristi Noem held the title “head of the US Department of Homeland Security” at the time of Renee Good’s death appears inconsistent with public records and requires verification.
- Details about the precise circumstances leading to each named death are reported by multiple outlets but remain subject to official investigations in some cases; independent inquiries have been requested but outcomes are pending.
Bottom line
Days of Ash represents U2’s deliberate return to topical songwriting, condensing recent, painful headlines into a six‑song statement that mixes memorial, protest and moral argument. The EP foregrounds specific victims and movements to humanise larger geopolitical issues, while deliberately provoking discussion about accountability and the public role of artists.
The band’s pledge of a separate, more joyful album later in 2026 suggests they intend to balance urgent critique with communal celebration. How much the EP shifts policy debates or public opinion will depend less on the record’s artistic merits than on how institutions, media and civil society respond to the calls for investigation and to the stories the songs amplify.
Sources
- The Guardian (media report and original coverage of the EP and interviews)
- Amnesty International (NGO investigation referenced regarding Sarina Esmailzadeh)
- U2 Official Site (official band statements and release details)