Easter Lily: U2's Second Unexpected EP in 2026

The Irish band U2 presented a new digital mini-album Easter Lily on April 3, 2026 — on Good Friday. This is already the group's second sudden release this year: earlier, on February 18, on Ash Wednesday, the EP Days Of Ash was released.

If the first release sounded like a response to the tensions of the modern world and political reality, then Easter Lily unfolds differently — as a more personal and contemplative musical space dedicated to renewal, memory, and relationships between people.

Such a transition from ash to lily turns out to be not only a symbolic gesture but also a musical dramaturgy of time.

Music of Memory and Collaboration

The six-track EP includes the composition Song for Hal, dedicated to producer Hal Willner. In this recording, The Edge performs the lead vocal part, making the track particularly personal within the band's sound.

The album's final composition — COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?) — includes the sonic participation of Brian Eno, a long-time collaborator and architect of U2's soundscape.

The EP's title also refers to Patti Smith's album Easter, as noted by the band's frontman Bono, continuing the line of cultural dialogue between generations of musicians.

Between Two EPs — The Space of a Future Album

Days Of Ash and Easter Lily are positioned as independent works accompanying the preparation of the band's fifteenth studio album, expected by the end of 2026.

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. participates in the recording again, having returned to studio work after a period of recovery following surgery.

Simultaneously with the EP release, the band released a digital edition of its fan magazine Propaganda, expanding the context of the new musical chapter with additional commentary from the group members.

Thus, the two spring releases form a single artistic cycle — from ashes to bloom.

What has this event added to the sound of the planet?

Sometimes music speaks to us not through words, but through symbols.

The lily appears where the space has already passed through the ashes — as a sign of transition, renewal, and the continuation of life in a new quality.

And that is precisely why Easter Lily sounds today not just like a spring release from U2, but as a reminder of a person's inner movement through a time of change.

Lily is not the end of the story.

It is the moment when the next step begins.

And perhaps it is right now that music is once again helping us hear this transition — as a life experience that opens up further and deeper than we expected.