U2 Drop Surprise Spiritual EP Easter Lily on Good Friday

Two surprise EPs in six weeks. U2 are not messing around right now. The band quietly dropped Easter Lily at midnight on Good Friday, April 3, with zero advance notice, and it's streaming everywhere right now. If you blinked, you might have missed it. But you shouldn't.

This follows their Days of Ash EP, which landed on Ash Wednesday back on February 18. That one was heavy on the political side. Easter Lily goes in a completely different direction. Six songs, 32 minutes, all focused on spiritual matters, friendship, loss, and hope. It's gentler. More personal. And honestly, it feels like exactly the kind of thing a lot of people need to hear right now.

What Bono Has to Say

Bono put out a statement alongside the release, and I'll be real, it's one of the more genuine things I've read from him in a while. He called these "wilderness years" for a lot of people and said the band has been "digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment." The questions driving this EP are deeply personal. Are our relationships strong enough for hard times? How far do you fight for friendship? Can faith survive the algorithm age?

He also gave a nod to Patti Smith's album Easter, saying it gave him so much hope when it dropped in 1978 and that the title is a direct tribute to her. That's a deep cut reference and I respect it.

The Tracklist

Here's what you're getting on Easter Lily:

1. Song for Hal
2. In a Life
3. Scars
4. Resurrection Song
5. Easter Parade
6. COEXIST (I Will Bless the Lord at All Times?)

The Standout Tracks

The opener, Song for Hal, is a tribute to the late Hal Wilner, and here's where it gets interesting. The Edge takes lead vocals on this one. That almost never happens. Edge addressed it in the latest issue of Propaganda, the band's newly revived fan magazine, saying Bono felt strongly that he should sing it. "He liked where it hit my voice. That was a big compliment." Honestly, hearing Edge front a track is reason enough to press play.

In a Life is an ode to friendship, and Edge was pretty upfront about it being "emotionally direct" in a way that some people might find uncool. But that's the whole point. It's confrontational in its sincerity. I can get behind that.

Scars pulls from early Eighties post-punk, which, if you know your U2 history, is right in their wheelhouse. The lyrics dig into self-acceptance and owning the things that have shaped you. Edge described it as pushing back against "fake perfection," which feels timely.

Then there's Resurrection Song, which has roots going back about a decade to a demo Edge made with producer Jacknife Lee. Edge says Larry Mullen Jr. "is playing some of the best drums he's ever recorded on this track." That's a big statement for a band with this catalog.

The closer, COEXIST (I Will Bless the Lord at All Times?), features a soundscape by Brian Eno. Edge called it one of his favorite pieces of music the band has made recently, even though he says he "had very little to do with" it. Bono apparently went fully unbridled over Eno's chords. That alone has me curious.

Larry Mullen Jr. Is Back

This is the part that matters to a lot of longtime fans. Larry Mullen Jr. missed the entire Sphere residency in 2023 and 2024 while recovering from neck and back surgeries. He's back behind the kit now, and producer Jacknife Lee says the recovery actually opened up new possibilities for his drumming style. Hearing him on Resurrection Song should tell you everything you need to know about where he's at.

The Bigger Picture

Here's what you need to know about the roadmap. The 12 songs across Days of Ash and Easter Lily will not appear on the band's upcoming album. These EPs are side detours. The full length is still being worked on, and Bono described it as a "noisy, messy, 'unreasonably colourful' album to play LIVE." A new album is expected this fall, though no official date has been set. No tour dates have been announced either, but it sounds like that's coming once the album is ready.

For a band that hadn't released newly written material since 2017, this burst of creativity is something to pay attention to. Both EPs are digital-only releases on Island/Universal with no physical editions, and Easter Lily arrives alongside a new issue of Propaganda featuring contributions from all four members, including in-studio photos shot by Larry Mullen Jr. himself.

Go Listen

Easter Lily is streaming right now on all platforms. You can find it on Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, wherever you listen. If you haven't checked out Days of Ash yet either, go do that. Twelve songs of brand new U2 material is a gift, and this band clearly isn't slowing down. Head to u2.com for more and to grab the latest issue of Propaganda.

Cover photo courtesy of Ticketmaster