U2<\/a> are celebrating Easter with the surprise Good Friday release of a new EP, Easter Lily<\/em>.<\/p>\n The six-track collection is the follow-up to the quartet’s Days Of Ash<\/em><\/a> EP, which was released on Ash Wednesday, February 18. <\/p>\n In comparison to that politically-charged, “defiant” EP, the Irish quartet’s new EP is described as a “much more reflective set of songs… emerging from a more personal, private place that some may retreat to in such times \u2013 exploring themes of friendship, loss, hope, and ultimately, renewal.”<\/p>\n As with its predecessor, the Easter Lily EP is accompanied by a digital e-zine edition of U2\u2019s own fanzine Propaganda<\/em>, which includes lyrics for each song, contributions from all four band members, and an interview with long-time producer Jacknife Lee, formerly of Compulsion<\/a>. <\/p>\n “I think this is an important era for the band,” says Lee. “They have not sounded so energised in decades.”<\/p>\n “These songs are personally revealing but definitely not prescriptive,” says guitarist The Edge. “They’re about where we go, what works for us. The songs we feel compelled to make sense of it all. <\/p>\n “Our hunch is that our audience is as hungry as we are for something to hold on to in these difficult times. We don’t write songs which shy away from witnessing a world in its trauma, its rage and pain and in these more spiritual songs we bear witness to the source of the strength we have found to walk through this world.”<\/p>\n