New Release: Easter Lily EP by U2 (Island Records Ltd.)

Happy Easter from U2. They have risen. Another surprise EP dropped on Good Friday called Easter Lily – the second since Days of Ash hit the airwaves on Ash Wednesday last month. It should be said that these EPs were not the sort of surprise Songs of Innocence caused when Apple Music forced the 2014 album on unsuspecting users. We’ll call this a good surprise, maybe a reinvention or resurrection of the Dublin foursome.

While Ash addressed human rights violations around the world, Lily hits a more personal tone. Nine years since the last release of original music (Songs of Experience), many thought the band was moving on to the greener pastures of retirement. Not so fast. You know as well as I that Bono will be creating something until his last days on the planet.

The opening track, “Song For Hal,” pays homage to former producer and friend Hal Willner who succumbed to the COVID-19 virus in 2020. The Edge handles lead vocals on this one, singing about Hal, “Did you know he is close to God / Who makes his old friends laugh? / Did you know Hal the magician? / I watched him disappear from a photograph.” The sixty-something quartet has become contemplative, revisiting their early Christian upbringing. But Edge is quick to ask, “Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apart?”

Bono has shared how Patti Smith’s Easter album gave him “so much hope” upon his first listening of the classic at the age of 18. Thus, the title. The lead single “In A Life” seems to look back on the nearly 50 years since four high school boys decided to create something special. The video is a patchwork of photos underscoring the band’s early years. The song also addresses the bitterness of our endless wars: “And when we make our bed out of war / Deafen our children with its roar / Repeat, rewind, replay once more / Never unsee the sights they saw.”

“Scars” provides a sense of pride and learned survival with the line, “Can’t break what’s already been broken.” The upbeat tune showcases the rarely showcased Adam Clayton on bass. Drummer and band founder Larry Mullen, Jr. missed the band’s Las Vegas Sphere spectacle to forego neck surgery. He is back with a force on these new recordings. The signature guitar licks of The Edge have rung out for decades, second only to the pure and emotive Bono Vox vocals when identifying the U2 sound.

My current fave is the wonderful “Resurrection Song,” transporting us back to the band’s urgency, including interludes of Edge’s spacey and mysterious sounds. Bono’s humility is evident in the line, “If love is in the air, let’s take a breath / If I sound ridiculous, I’m not done yet.” The song reinforces and highlights everything I’ve always loved about U2.

“Easter Parade” is a soaring thing, commenting on themes of rebirth and resurrection. The multilayered track is just another example of the fuel left in the band’s tank. They don’t seem to be slowing. It’s a difficult path avoiding repetitiveness while simultaneously sounding fresh and relevant. The band has a “sound” and any extreme departure from it would be inauthentic.

Brian Eno shows up on keyboards on the closing track “COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?). Bono begins with a spoken word delivery, putting on full display his spiritual earnestness. Sounding like a hymnal from the Middle Ages, the song exposes his deepest emotions. “I am not afraid” is the theme and we believe him as he closes out the final minute A cappella.

Working again with producer Jacknife Lee, U2 seems resurrected, displaying hearts on sleeves and concern for the loss of human rights, the ravages of war, and the staying power of four lads from Dublin. Prepare for the new album and tour. Happy Easter.