U2: Easter Lily EP (Island)
FOUR STARS
The old adage about the frequency of London buses has clearly struck a chord with U2: you can wait nine years for a collection of new songs, and then two new EPs arrive in the space of six weeks.
It was only at the end of February that the Irish quartet delivered Days Of Ash – an Extended Play of six protest songs, and their first set of new tunes since 2017.
In the blink of an eye, they are now back with six more.
Released ahead of a ‘defiantly joyful’ new album, due later this year, Easter Lily is being billed as a more reflective, personal piece of work than Days Of Ash.
Its songs look at friendship, loss and hope, with the dynamism of guitarist The Edge harking back powerfully to the majesty of 1987’s The Joshua Tree.
The guitarist’s effects-heavy playing is to the fore on the first two tracks. On Song For Hal, a lament for American record producer Hal Willner, who died at the height of the pandemic in 2020, we are even treated to The Edge on lead vocals.
His jagged chords are prominent again on In A Life, with frontman Bono singing of the importance of friends: ‘I never achieved anything on my own,’ he admits.
The second half of the EP examines spiritual themes, perfectly timed for Easter. Resurrection Song details a road trip with a lover or friend, and Easter Parade is all Beatles-esque psychedelia.
There’s also, on Coexist (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?), a return for long-term collaborator Brian Eno – reiterating the sense of a band going back to the future.
Released ahead of a ‘defiantly joyful’ new U2 album, due later this year, Easter Lily is being billed as a more reflective, personal piece of work than their last EP, Days Of Ash
Its songs look at friendship, loss and hope, with the dynamism of guitarist The Edge (left, onstage with Bono) harking back powerfully to the majesty of 1987’s The Joshua Tree
