U2 surprise fans again with Easter Lily EP and a private turn toward renewal
On Good Friday, a low-key digital drop landed: u2 released the Easter Lily EP, a second surprise record arriving six weeks after Days of Ash. In a dimly lit home studio, headphones on and coffee cooling beside them, the band offered a compact set of songs that turn inward — on friendship, loss, hope and the idea of renewal.
What is on the Easter Lily EP?
The Easter Lily EP is described as a reflective companion to Days of Ash. Its songs include Song for Hal, a COVID-19 lockdown lament with The Edge on lead vocals written for the music-maker Hal Willner; In a Life, a celebration of friendship; Scars, a song of encouragement and acceptance; Resurrection Song, a pilgrimage-tinged road-trip piece; Easter Parade, a devotional celebration of new life; and COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?), a lullaby for parents of children caught up in war featuring a Brian Eno soundscape.
Why did U2 release the Easter Lily EP?
The band frames Easter Lily as emerging from a more private place than the earlier Days of Ash, which responded to chaotic public events. Bono’s note to the audience explains that the project grew from personal questioning during what he calls “wilderness years” for many. He wrote that the band has been “digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment, ” and that the EP asks intimate questions about relationships, faith and rituals. He also linked the title to Patti Smith’s album Easter as a nod to hope.
What else accompanied the release and how are the band members contributing?
The Easter Lily EP arrived alongside a special edition of the band’s Propaganda e-zine. The 52-page digital publication includes contributions from all four band members: sleeve notes by The Edge; Adam Clayton on art and the journey of recovery; a conversation between Bono and Franciscan friar Richard Rohr; in-studio photographs by Larry Mullen Jr.; song lyrics; an interview with producer Jacknife Lee; and a piece about Hal Willner by Gavin Friday. The band says they will “attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date” but that, for now, “this is between you and us. “
Producer Jacknife Lee appears in the e-zine as the record’s collaborator in the studio. The inclusion of a conversation with Richard Rohr and a reflective note from Bono reinforces the EP’s inward, spiritual frame. The Edge’s lead vocal turn on Song for Hal and the presence of Brian Eno on a soundscape are specific creative choices that shape the record’s intimate tone.
Beyond the music, the release is part of a pair of CDs that bookend Lent: Days of Ash followed by Easter Lily, creating a thematic arc from external chaos to private renewal. The band packaged the music with a renewed effort at direct conversation with listeners through the Propaganda zine and personal contributions from each member.
Back in the quiet room where the drop was first sent, the band’s choice to keep the moment small feels deliberate: u2 are holding these songs close for now, postponing larger performance plans until they can return to the live arena that Bono calls the place “where U2 lives. ” The Easter Lily EP leaves the listener at a doorway — offered a set of bedside songs, a companion booklet, and an open question about how rituals and relationships will be rebuilt in the months ahead.
Image caption (alt text): u2 Easter Lily EP cover art concept — a reflective release for Good Friday and renewal
