U2 have 25 songs “worth considering” for a new album
Following the surprise release of their new EP, Days of Ash, U2 have confirmed that a new album is in the works.
The Irish rock band have not released a full-length studio album since Songs of Experience in 2017. Since then, drummer Larry Mullen Jr has suffered health issues, which kept him away from their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Thankfully, Mullen Jr has made a recovery, contributing to all six songs on Days of Ash, and he’s also fully involved in the creative process for their next record.
In the 54-page fanzine, Propaganda, which U2 have published alongside the new EP, Bono provided a health update on Mullen Jr following his injury struggles, proudly saying of his bandmate’s condition, “His playing is as innovative as ever and I can’t get over the feeling in the room when we actually get to play together.”
Looking ahead to their next album, Bono revealed, “There’s a lot more than twenty five songs in the works… but I’d say that about twenty five of them are worth considering for U2 projects in the next years. The album contenders are very different in mood and theme to the ones we’ve chosen to put out on the Days of Ash EP…”
He promised that their next project will see U2 deliver “more songs of celebration than lamentation” and admitted that “the songs being presented here are all reactions to present day anxieties”, ranging from the “knee-jerk” to the “considered”.
Although he’s aware that the new batch of songs are “likely to offend or annoy some parties”, Bono is insistent that it’s “part of U2’s job to describe the world around us”..
Across the politically-charged new EP, U2 celebrate the life of Renée Good, who was killed by an ICE agent, as well as Sarina Esmailzadeh, who was killed by the Iranian regime, and Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian father who was killed in July 2025 by settler Yinon Levi in the West Bank.
In a press statement, Bono explained why these timely songs arrived now rather than on a future project down the line and seemingly confirmed the new album will arrive in 2026, “It’s been a thrill having the four of us back together in the studio over the last year… the songs on Days of Ash are very different in mood and theme to the ones we’re going to put on our album later in the year. These EP tracks couldn’t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation.”
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