EP
Days of Ash EP
Days of Ash is a six-track EP from U2, produced by Jacknife Lee and released through Island on 18 February 2026, the same day as Ash Wednesday. Five of the songs are new, and they take on current events head-on: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the deaths of Renée Good in Minneapolis, Iranian teenager Sarina Esmailzadeh and Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen. The sixth track sets a poem by the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai to music.
It is the first batch of freshly written U2 songs since the 2017 album Songs of Experience, which makes it a notable moment in the band's story. Each track came with its own lyric video, and a one-off special issue of the band's magazine, Propaganda, accompanied the release. Less than two months later, the band followed it with another six-track EP, Easter Lily, in April 2026. If you like your U2 outspoken and rooted in the news, this is the place to start.
Days of Ash EP: tracklist, credits and charts
6 tracks · 23:30Tracklist
- 1American ObituaryBono, Clayton, Jr.4:23
- 2The Tears of ThingsBono, Clayton, Edge, Jr.5:25
- 3Song of the FutureBono, Clayton, Jr.3:55
- 4WildpeaceBono, Clayton, Edge, Jr., עמיחי1:18
- 5One Life at a TimeBono, Clayton, Edge, Jr.4:03
- 6Yours EternallyBono, Clayton, Edge, Jr., Carmody, Sheeran4:26
- Produced by
- Jacknife Lee
- Recorded at
- Curlews (Ireland), Universal (U.S.)
- Mixed by
- Jacknife Lee, Tom Elmhirst
- Engineered by
- Duncan Stewart, Jacknife Lee
- Mastered by
- Scott Sedillo
- Label
- Island
- Length
- 23:30
Line-up
- Adam Clayton · bass guitar
- The Edge · guitar, vocals
- Larry Mullen, Jr. · drums (drum set)
- Bono · vocals
- Jacknife Lee · guitar, keyboard, piano, background vocals, synthesizer, vocals
- Adeola · spoken vocals · guest
- Mykhailo Chirko · choir vocals · guest
- Valeriia Chupryna · choir vocals · guest
- Bob Geldof · choir vocals · guest
- Vladyslav Greziev · choir vocals · guest
- Jeanne Marine · choir vocals · guest
- Kateryna Motrych · choir vocals · guest
- Ed Sheeran · vocals · guest
- Maksym Syvolap · choir vocals · guest
- Надежда Толоконникова · choir vocals · guest
- Тарас Тополя · vocals · guest
- Dmytro Vodovozov · choir vocals · guest
- Sergii Vusyk · choir vocals · guest
- Dmytro Zholud · choir vocals · guest
Singles
- “Song of the Future” · 18 February 2026
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2026 | 8 |
| French Rock & Metal Albums (SNEP) · 2026 | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2026 | 8 |
| Swiss Albums · 2026 | 8 |
| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 2026 | 9 |
| Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon) · 2026 | 10 |
| Austrian Albums · 2026 | 14 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2026 | 14 |
| US Album Sales · 2026 | 18 |
| Ireland 3 · 2026 | 32 |
All 14 charts
| Italian Albums (FIMI) · 2026 | 45 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2026 | 54 |
| German Albums · 2026 | 87 |
| French Albums · 2026 | 123 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
76.0
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.6k
ListenBrainz listeners
111k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
12k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 18 February
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 18 February 2026 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 18 February 2026 | |
| Wikidata | 18 February 2026 | |
| Deezer | 18 February 2026 |
6 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 February 2026 | XW | Island | 0199957514323 | original |
| 18 February 2026 | XW | Island | 00199957438254 | original |
| 18 February 2026 | — | Island | 0199957438230 | original |
| 18 February 2026 | — | Island | 00199957438223 | original |
| 23 March 2026 | XW | Island | 00199957534529 | other |
| September 2026 | XW | Island | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |