If last month’s surprise EP felt like U2 reacting to the outside world, their latest drop turns sharply inward.
Released this morning (April 3) on Good Friday, Easter Lily is the band’s second unannounced EP in as many weeks, following Days of Ash, which arrived on Ash Wednesday. But where that earlier collection channeled global unrest, Easter Lily a six-song meditation on friendship, grief, faith and the possibility of renewal.
In a note to fans, Bono describes the band as being deep in “wilderness years,” still working toward a “noisy, messy” full-length album meant for the stage. In the meantime, these EPs function as raw, thematic snapshots from a band long-known for processing both the world and its place therein.
“Song for Hal,” featuring the Edge on lead vocals, is a lockdown-era elegy for the late producer Hal Willner, while “In a Life” and “Scars” grapple with the durability and fragility of personal bonds. Elsewhere, “Resurrection Song” leans into open-road spiritualism, and the title track lands as a devotional meditation on rebirth.
The closing piece, “COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?),” is built around a soundscape by longtime collaborator Brian Eno and framed as a lullaby for parents navigating war.
“It’s a time that has our band digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment,” Bono says. “With Easter Lily we ended up asking very personal questions like: are our own relationships up to these challenging times? How hard do you fight for friendship? Can our faith survive the mangling of meaning that those algorithms love to reward? Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apart…? Or are there answers to find in its crevices? Are there ceremonies, rituals, dances that we might be missing in our lives? From the rite of spring to easter and its promise of rebirth and renewal… Patti Smith’s album Easter gave me so much hope when it was released in 1978. I wasn’t yet 18. The title is a nod to her.”
Like its predecessor, Easter Lily arrives without the usual industry machinery. “We will attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date,” Bono writes, “but in the meantime, this is between you and us.” And as with Days of Ash, it’s accompanied by a new digital edition of Propaganda, the band’s 40-year-old fanzine. It includes everything from studio photography by drummer Larry Mullen Jr. to reflections on recovery from bassist Adam Clayton, alongside conversations and essays that mirror the EP’s introspective tone.