U2 Surprise Release 'Days Of Ash' EP

By Editorial Staff | Published: Feb 18, 2026 1:14 PM EST

U2 surprised fans today with the release of their new "Days Of Ash" EP to celebrate Ash Wednesday (February 18th). Here is the offiical announcement: On this Ash Wednesday (the day after carnival) - Interscope Records today announces the release of 'U2 - Days Of Ash', a brand new standalone 6-track EP from U2.

In advance of a new album in late 2026, the 'U2 - Days Of Ash' EP is a self-contained collection of five new songs and a poem - 'American Obituary', 'The Tears Of Things', 'Song Of The Future', 'Wildpeace', 'One Life At A Time' and 'Yours Eternally' (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) - an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom. Four of the five tracks are about individuals - a mother, a father, a teenage girl - whose lives were brutally cut short. A soldier who'd rather be singing but is ready to die for the freedom of his country.

"It's been a thrill having the four of us back together in the studio over the last year... 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. Songs of celebration will follow, we're working on those now... because for all the awfulness we see normalized 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.

"If you have a chance to hope it's a duty..." is a line we borrowed from Lea Ypi.

A laugh would be nice too. Thank you." Bono

"Who needs to hear a new record from us? It just depends on whether we're making music we feel deserves to be heard. I believe these new songs stand up to our best work. We talk a lot about when to release new tracks. You don't always know... the way the world is now feels like the right moment. Going way back to our earliest days, working with Amnesty or Greenpeace, 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."
Larry Mullen Jr.

"I'm excited about these new songs, it feels like they're arriving at the right time." Adam Clayton

"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.
This belief isn't temporary.
It isn't political fashion.
It's the ground we stand on.
And we stand there together." The Edge