Rock band U2 have surprise released a \u201cdefiant\u201d, politically-charged EP titled \u2018Days Of Ash\u2019. <\/p>\n
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The new release features six tracks which the band have described as a response to current events. <\/p>\n
As per a press release, four of the five tracks \u201care about individuals \u2013 a mother, a father, a teenage girl \u2013 whose lives were brutally cut short. A soldier who\u2019d rather be singing but is ready to die for the freedom of his country.\u201d <\/p>\n
The opening track, \u2018American Obituary\u2019, references the tragedy that unfolded in Minnesota on 7 January, when Renee Good was fatally shot by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. <\/p>\n
The song features the lyrics: \u201cRenee Good born to die free \/ American mother of three \/ Seventh day January \/ A bullet for each child, you see \/ The colour of her eye \/ 930 Minneapolis \/ To desecrate domestic bliss \/ Three bullets blast, three babies kissed \/ Renee the domestic terrorist???<\/em>“<\/p>\n The music video accompanying the release shows clips of the Statue of Liberty with its eyes covered with the word \u2018REDACTED\u2019, scenes of marches, and graffiti reading: \u201cAmerica Wake Up\u201d.<\/p>\n The lyric \u201cAmerica will rise against the people of the lie<\/em>\u201d is projected over the image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a typical red and oversized Trump tie. <\/p>\n Elsewhere on the EP, \u2018The Tears Of Things\u2019 examines how one can live compassionately in a time of violence, while \u2018Song of the Future\u2019 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<\/strong><\/a>. Esmailzadeh was detained by Iranian security forces and died from injuries. <\/p>\n \u2018Wildpeace\u2019 centers on a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, while \u2018One Life At A Time\u2019 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. <\/p>\n The EP ends with a song called \u2018Yours Eternally\u2019, which is a collaboration 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 is accompanied by a short documentary film directed by Ukrainian cinematographer and filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus. The film captures the daily lives of soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war, and will be released on Tuesday 24 February \u2013 four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Speaking about the new EP, Bono said in a statement: \u201cThese EP tracks couldn\u2019t 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\u2019re working on those now\u2026 because for all the awfulness we see normalised daily on our small screens, there\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/p>\n Bono also shared that a full album of new material will be arriving later in 2026. <\/p>\n The band have also announced a new one-off edition of their classic fanzine ‘Propaganda’. It features a Q&A with Bono, notes from his bandmates, exclusive interviews with \u2018Yours Eternally\u2019 film director Ilya Mikhaylus and film producer Pyotr Verzilov. Check it out here<\/a>. <\/p>\n