Genres: Pop Rock, Alternative Rock
The Musiquarium’s Days of Ash EP Score: 6 out of 10
The Days of Ash EP is the first collection of new music from U2 since 2017’s Songs of Experience (2023’s Songs of Surrender was just 40 pointless acoustic remakes of several of the band’s songs) and is inspired by increasingly worsening geo-political tensions, wars and unpredictable world leaders. Bono feels the most inspired that he’s sounded in over two decades here, with Days of Ash sounding like U2 trying to recapture the protest-powered proto-punk of 1983’s War.
American Obituary is a decent, politically-charged opener (if not a little cheesy), with the following two tracks also being fairly good songs (The Tears of Things, Song of the Future). Wildpiece is a 1+ minute long interlude with spoken word vocals and feels pointless on such a short project. Yours Eternally features the eternally milquetoast Ed Sheeran, though it’s not as bad as you’d expect it to be.
U2 will never relive the artistic or commercial glories of their nearly perfect body of work between 1980-1993, but they don’t have to — all people want is a half-decent new U2 album and while this is only an EP, Days of Ash still feels like a (small) step in the right direction.
For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view U2 on Discogs.
Back to 2026 Album Guide or the U2 Album Reviews page
Written by Brett Nippard
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