Days of Ash: Airplay, Promotions, Propaganda, Reviews, Charts and More

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2026-02-22)

Last Updated: 2026-02-22

“Days of Ash” came out on Wednesday. If you are looking for more information on it, we suggest our discography entry where we pull together news about the release formats, background on the album, the lyrics, videos, all our news stories and more. And if you haven’t heard it yet? Why not? Head over for a listen!

This is one of our Breaking Waves columns where we go through a bunch of smaller news stories, this time out however we are focused 100% on the new EP, and what the band have done with it and are doing with it for promotion!

A Thank You to U2

Bono sings about a number of individuals on this EP. One of those individuals was Renee Good, a mother of three, killed by an ICE officer. Good’s parents, siblings and partner shared, “Renee didn’t just believe in kindness; she lived it, fully and fiercely. She would be deeply moved by this tribute from U2, and would hope it makes a difference in the world. It is an incredible honor to have the talent and impact of U2 spreading a message of peace in Renee’s name. We certainly feel the urgency of the country’s situation reflected in the band’s powerful call for change and coming together.”

Promotion and Upcoming Items

A few days in and the promotion activities around the “Days of Ash” EP are becoming clearer.

The full EP went out for promotion at the same time worldwide. At 12 noon ET, the full EP was sent out to radio in a number of countries. At this time it was also sent to press. The promotional release contained all six tracks and didn’t specify a single for radio. Since that intial release some additional promos have been sent out to radio and influencers.

In most countries it appears that “Song of the Future” is the favoured first single for radio. Much of radio are using this as the first single. The promotional release is a single digital track, and comes with the cover of the EP, not the one specific to the song. Because of this push, “Song of the Future” is the song that is currently getting the most airplay worldwide. It has the more than twice the amount of airplay that the next most popular track on the EP has.

In South America and select countries in Europe, “Yours Eternally” has been sent out for promo. The song is the same version as that which is on the EP, and promotional materials sent out contain the song and the lyric video for the song. The artwork associated with the promo is the cover of the EP, and not the song specific artwork that we have seen. “Yours Eternally” is currently getting the second highest amount of airplay from the album, at about half of the total plays of “Song of the Future”.

In North America four songs have been sent out for promo, with DJs being given some choice in what they play. The songs sent out are “American Obituary”, “Song of the Future”, “Yours Eternally” and “One Life At a Time”. The favoured song by far among airplay numbers in North America is “American Obituary”. And indeed that is the third most played song worldwide, with about 80% of the plays of “Yours Eternally”. Each of these songs is being circulated with the artwork from the EP, and the versions sent appear to be identical to the EP.

Although not sent for promo, “The Tears of Things” is coming in fourth for overall airplay, with “One Life at a Time” coming in next among the songs on radio. All promotion done to date has been via digital channels, and we have not seen any physical promotion done at this point. (See our note on fakes below.)

In the airplay numbers, it is Italy that’s leading the pack for the most plays worldwide to date. There is it pretty much exclusively “Song of the Future” that is being played. The United States has the second highest airplay numbers, helped along by a healthy dose of play on U2’s own U2 X-Radio where a song from the EP is being played every fourth or fifth song. In North America the favoured song is “American Obituary” on radio. The songs on U2 X-Radio are accompanied by brief introductions to the songs by Bono or the Edge. Germany has the third highest airplay numbers worldwide for the new material, and that country is favouring play of “Yours Eternally”.

There are additional plans for “Yours Eternally” coming this week. Dave Fanning shared, “This song will be released next Tuesday, I think it is, which is the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.” Tuesday is that anniversary. We expect more promotional releases to radio, as well, its already been announced a special video is being prepared. The video will be a four and a half minute documentary film, directed by Ilya Mikhaylus, filmed in December 2025. It focuses on the daily lives of soldiers in the Ukrainian war.

Initial Launch

As this was a surprise launch, many missed that Dave Fanning once again had the first play. He made a special appearance on 2FM Radio to play songs from the EP starting with “American Obituary” a few minutes before it went live on streaming services. During the broadcast he played five songs (all except “Wildpeace”) and spoke about the origin of the songs.

A couple of points Fanning brought up:

About the EP, “And nothing to do with the album that they will be releasing at the end of the year. They are almost getting these ones out of the way. They wanted them to be really important, because what they do is look at current world events and they’re not happy.”
On the timing of a new album Fanning shares, “Definitely a whole album of new music before the end of the year. I’d say October / November but I don’t know definitely 100%”
About a tour Fanning shares, “My guess, and this is only a guess, good guess, that they’ll do outdoors in ’27”
Asked about the promotion of the EP, Dave shared, “Maybe they’re too busy trying to get the next bit together, because they definitely want to get an album out before the end of the year. Those other 20 tracks. If you’re going to start doing the round of interviews maybe that could take up too much time. I’m imagining they probably don’t want to do interviews with this at all.” He suggested the Propaganda magazine was a way to get the information out about the songs and recording without spending a lot of time on the promotion circuit.

Dave is likely onto something with the final comments, as Adam Clayton shared via CraicFest on Facebook that he’d be unable to make an appearance at the opening of Ballroom Boom in New York, sharing, “I’m sorry I can’t be there. But I have a recording date with a small combo that I work with. I hope you enjoy this unique story of the Irish music scene.”

Fakes

The amount of fake information circulating since the EP has come out has been a little insane. Detailed information about release plans for a physical single is making the rounds. Right down to catalog numbers and descriptions of packaging. We’ve been told by a number of our reliable sources that the band has not made a decision yet on a physical release. When the band decided on a surprise launch for this EP, it means any planning for a physical release was put on hold to keep the secret. We’re likely months away from any sort of physical release of this EP, if one is done. (And at this point, it’s too late to get a record in for Record Store Day in April. The list closed back in November, and even if U2 could get a late addition onto the list, there isn’t time now to get a record pressed prior to April.)

Unfortunately some have been trying to make some money from the desire for a physical pressing of this EP. On eBay there’s a “DJ Promo” for the EP for sale. It’s advertised as a test pressing on vinyl including just two songs. This is a fake. At this point we are not aware of any physical formats that have been produced for promotion. The EP was released digitally and kept under wraps to keep the surprise.

If you are seeing any physical copies offered for sale at this time, they are likely fake.

Propaganda Magazine

The big crowd pleaser has been the new issue of Propaganda magazine, U2’s fanzine that has been out of publication since 2002. The magazine is available in a digital format now, and can be read online, but there is no direct download option. Initial press releases from the label announcing “Days of Ash” mentioned that there would be a limited physical edition. Some press releases even mentioned this would be available via independent record stores. We aren’t sure if that is still the case. We are told by Universal that plans for the physical magazine have changed at the last minute, and that we should have more information soon about the physical release.

Chart Information

As a midweek debut U2’s new EP, “Days of Ash” did not have a full week of sales, and the initial chart positions are based on less than two days of sales instead. It did quite well based on this. Many countries are not reporting charts that would include the EP at this time, we will update as these report. But looking at Ireland, Italy and the UK:

Ireland, IRMA, Albums Chart (2026-02-26): #53
Ireland, IRMA, Homegrown Irish Chart (2026-02-26): #7 (for “American Obituary”)
Italy, Earone Charts, Airplay Rock Chart (2026-02-19): #1 (for “Song of the Future”)
UK, Official Charts, Albums Sales Chart (2026-02-26): #8
UK, Official Charts, Album Downloads Chart (2026-02-26): #26

Media Coverage

A mix of news stories about the new EP, and reviews of the EP. Overall the reviews have been strong for this release. The link to the right gives an indication of which is which, a review or the announcement of the EP. We will add more in the days ahead. These are listed in alphabetical order by publication name below.

Billboard (“U2 meet the moment with ‘Days of Ash’ EP spotlighting Renee Good Killing, Gaza, Ukraine Wars”, Gil Kaufman) [News]
Classic Rock Magazine (“U2 slam ICE, Putin, Netanyahu and more on surprise-released EP Days Of Ash”, Fraser Lewry) [News]
Flood Magazine (“U2 Usher in Ash Wednesday with New EP Days of Ash”, Will Schube) [News]
Goldmine Magazine (“Days of Ash EP bristles with righteous anger, John Curley) [Review]
The Guardian (“Days of Ash review – six new tracks reaffirm the band as a vital political voice”, Alexis Petridis) [Review]
The Guardian (“Bono lambasts ICE, Putin, Netanyahu and more as U2 release first collection of new songs since 2017”, Ben Beaumont-Thomas) [News]
The Hill (“U2 releases song ‘American Obituary’ honoring Renee Good”, Judy Kurtz) [News]
HotPress Magazine (“U2 surprise-release new EP, Days of Ash”) [News]
Irish Examiner (“U2 have suddenly woken up to the fact they have something to say”, Tom Dunne) [Review]
Irish Independent (“Unlike recent forgettable singles, this EP feels like U2 pulling together”, John Meagher) [Review]
Irish Independent (“A band revitalized and full of political fire – U2’s surprise ‘Days of Ash’ EP is their best release in decades”, Pat Carty) [Review]
Irish Independent (“U2, their creative coma and the new songs on Days of Ash that are fizzing with fury”, John Meagher) [News]
The Irish Times (“Days of Ash Review: You may loathe the politically broad tone, but the band sounds reinvigorated”, Una Mullally) [Review]
Mojo Magazine (“Bono and co. relocate their unforgettable ire on new EP”, Tom Doyle) [Review]
NME (“Bono opens up about U2’s new Days of Ash EP”, Elizabeth Aubrey) [News]
People (“U2 Addresses Various Global Issues with 6 New ‘Songs of Defiance and Dismay,’ Explains Bono”, Jack Irvin) [News]
Pitchfork (“U2 Release New EP Days of Ash”, Nina Corcoran) [News]
Rolling Stone (“U2 Surprise-Drop Politically Charged Days of Ash EP with Six New Songs”, Andy Greene) [News]
Rolling Stone (“U2 are recording a ‘defiantly joyful’ album with Larry Mullen Jr. back on drums”, Andy Greene) [News]
RTE Culture (“What a week to be a U2 fan”, Dan Hegarty) [Review]
Slant Magazine (“U2 Drops Politically Charged EP, ‘Days of Ash’, featuring an ‘American Obituary’”, Sal Cinquemani) [News]
The Standard (“Days of Ash EP: Political fury drives a thrilling set of comeback songs”, Martin Robinson) [Review]
Stereogum (“U2 Address Political Violence on Surprise New EP Days of Ash”, Tom Breihan) [News]
The Telegraph (“U2 are back on the barricades with their most political work in years”, Neil McCormick) [Review]
The Times (“Days of Ash review – the protest is alive once more”, Will Hodgkinson) [Review]
The Times of Israel (“U2’s new EP features Yehuda Amichai poem, memorializes slain Palestinian activist”, TOI Staff) [News]
Toronto Sun (“U2 honour ICE victim Renee Good on new EP ‘Days of Ash’”, Mark Daniell) [News]
USA Today (“U2 surprise drops ‘Days of Ash’ EP to ‘confront these maddening times’”) [News]
Variety Magazine (“U2 Releases Six-Track ‘Days of Ash’ EP for Ash Wednesday…’), Chris Willman) [News]
XSNoize (“U2 Return with ‘Days of Ash’”, Mark Millar) [News]