Following on the heels of the Boss’s “Streets of Minneapolis,” U2 has released a new EP, Days of Ash, whose opening track, “American Obituary,” explicitly references the turmoil in the Midwestern American city. In a newly released edition of the band’s digital Propaganda magazine, frontman Bono refers to the six songs that comprise the EP as “reactions to present day anxieties.”
Each of the songs on Days of Ash overtly or obliquely references a current event. Told from the perspective of a soldier on active duty, “Yours Eternally” features Tara Topolia, a Ukrainian singer first introduced to U2 by Ed Sheeran, who also contributed to the track. “Wildpeace” features Nigerian artist Adeola of Amazones d’Afrique and Jacknife Lee.
Bono reveals that U2’s next LP is currently in the works and due later this year. He describes the album, in contrast to Days of Ash, as having “more of a defiantly joyful kind of feel to take on these anxious times.”
Watch the official lyric video for “American Obituary” below:
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