Ed Sheeran Hops On U2’s ‘Days Of Ash,’ A Surprise EP Set To Be Followed By A New Album This Year

These days, U2 tend to take a long time between new releases, and when they do drop something, they give it a proper promotional lead-up. Not this time: Today (February 18), the legendary Irish rockers shared Days Of Ash, a six-track EP released to coincide with the Christian observance of Ash Wednesday.

One of the few guests appearing on the project is Ed Sheeran, who, along with Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia, features on “Yours Eternally.” Per a press release, Sheeran introduced U2 to Topolia, who wound up being the inspiration for the song, which was “written in the form of a letter from a soldier on active duty with a bold, mischievous spirit to match Ukraine’s.”

A short four-and-a-half-minute documentary film connected to the song, directed by Ukrainian cinematographer and filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, is also set to be released on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Per the release, “Shot in December 2025 while Mikhaylus and his crew were embedded alongside the 40,000-strong Khartiya Corps, the film captures the extraordinary daily lives of Alina and her fellow soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war.”

In a statement, Bono says of the EP:

“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. Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now… because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing normal about these mad and maddening times and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future. And each other.

‘If you have a chance to hope it’s a duty…’ is a line we borrowed from Lea Ypi.

A laugh would be nice too. Thank you.”

In 2021, Sheeran spoke about seeking advice from Bono when finding out he was having his first child, telling Apple Music’s Zane Lowe:

“I was like, ‘How do I navigate this into my career?’ […] U2 played stadiums on their third record or whatever, and Bono was 28 and he finished his live tour at 29, and then had his first child. […] I was like, this is the one guy I feel like I could relate to. So I got in touch, then we had like a three-hour chat and he is the sweetest guy. And I’d never really bonded with him like that. […]

I don’t know what made him take the call, but we’re sort of having this chat and he was telling me about how he navigated being a father, like where his kids went to school and how they did tour and stuff like that. And I was just kind of taking it all in and he hung up the phone and we’d sort of ended our chat. And then I went through a deep dive of U2 on vinyl. So I bought all their records. I’d heard their records, but I’d never… it’s different sitting down with headphones, closed eyes.”

Listen to “Yours Eternally” above and find the Days Of Ash cover art and tracklist below.

U2’s Days Of Ash Album Cover Artwork

U2’s Days Of Ash Tracklist

1. “American Obituary”
2. “The Tears Of Things”
3. “Song Of The Future”
4. “Wildpeace” (by Yehuda Amichai, read by Adeola, with music by U2 and Jacknife Lee)
5. “One Life At A Time”
6. “Yours Eternally” Feat. Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia

Days Of Ash is out now via Island. Find more information here.