U2: Days of Ash EP

"Days of Ash is, by mere virtue of existence, a step in the right direction: a new EP released with little fanfare while the quartet continues work on its first full-length in nine years. The songs were composed recently enough to address political events from this winter, and the slapdash artwork and YouTube-rip-quality mix suggest the band was too excited to slow down and consult many outside collaborators."

""Six postcards from the present... We wish we weren't here" is the subtitle affixed to the release, and it's a welcome statement from a band that once thrived in the spirit of protest, inspiring several generations to cast their eyes to the world, release their inhibitions, and sing from the heart."

"U2 have been having some trouble getting to the finish line. Because their new releases have grown so infrequent and because, as a songwriter, Bono retains the ambition of several precocious Model UN students all vying to be chairperson, even the band's simplest ideas end up feeling labored to the point of incoherence, abetted by a revolving focus group of co-writers and producers."

U2 has struggled recently with infrequent releases and overly complicated songwriting processes involving numerous collaborators. During the pandemic, Bono and the Edge created acoustic rearrangements of their hits spanning four discs. Days of Ash represents progress as a new EP released with minimal external input, suggesting the band's renewed creative urgency. The six tracks address contemporary political events including ICE violence, Israeli settlements, and Iranian uprisings. Despite the EP's brief 23-minute runtime and deliberately rough production quality, U2 maintains their characteristic complexity through dense compositions and supplementary materials explaining creative inspiration, reflecting their enduring commitment to protest-oriented artistry.

Read at Pitchfork