This is a band that didn’t just release another set of music, it released a statement. It’s a band that’s never really peaked, because each album, even the so-called duds, mile-stoned another phase in a trajectory that’s somehow always on the up.
U2 surprised the world with a Good Friday release, an EP titled Easter Lily that’s a wild departure from Days of Ash six weeks ago. Whereas the latter was a protest response to the chaos that reigns, the former is gentle, somewhat more quiet but emotionally charged. It’s as if Ash was the assault, Lily the retreat. What the full album later this year may look like, anyone’s guess.
In a note to fans posted on the band’s u2.com fansite and social media, Bono wrote that “We are in the studio, still working towards a noisy, messy, ‘unreasonably colourful’ album to play LIVE… which is where U2 lives. We still look to vivid rock n roll as an act of resistance against all this awfulness on our small screens. These are for sure ‘wilderness years’ for so many of us looking at the mayhem out there in the world.”
Days of Ash was assault. Easter Lily is retreat
The six tracks on Easter Lily are breathtaking. Song For Hal is a tribute to long time friend Hal Willner who passed away from Covid-19. The Edge takes to the microphone as lead vocalist for the first time since Zooropa’s Numb. It’s hauntingly beautiful, this track.
In A Life celebrates friendship. Listen to the lyrics and feel the song. And the same could be said for Scars, it’s motivational retreat, spiritual in its guidance of acceptance. The band has taken its lyrics and melody back to the days of The Joshua Tree, but with age, wisdom and a solid measure of The Unforgettable Fire’s misty mysticism in between. Listening to the EP you can feel echoes of Wide Awake In America, Mothers of The Disappeared and a healthy measure of rock and roll depth that the world, and much music, sorely lacks these days.
The final track, as with so many U2 releases, feels like a prayer. It’s called Coexist (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times) and was produced by Brian Eno. While the meaning is intended to be a lullaby for children caught up in war, there are layers to this song that speaks of faith, doubt and gentle emotive assertion. It’s moving, every moment of it.
It’s a modicum of emotion and faith
Before that, there’s Resurrection Song. It’s about a road trip, the band said, with a lover or a friend into the unknown. But again, look deeper, read the lyrics that teach about the journey, and the deep themes of faith, blind faith, laced with what a snake oil salesman may proffer as salvation. Only this time, it’s real, and the feelings are authentic.
Also Read: U2’s ‘Songs of Ash’ is exceptional protest music
The second last track is Easter Parade. It’s devotional, it melds the legend of Easter, Christ’s death and resurrection, with a love story. The lyrical imagery is dreamy, but The Edge becomes the lapping waves beating on the sands of its melody.
This EP belongs to Larry Mullen jr whose return to the band after his injury holds the space for Clayton’s bass. Bono tells stories like he did in his Surrender one-man show while the Edge’s jangled guitar powers through them all like a missile.
This EP belongs to Larry Mullen jr
Bono’s note said that the band was digging deeper into their lives..”to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment… With Easter Lily we ended up asking very personal questions like: Are our own relationships up to these challenging times? How hard do you fight for friendship? Can our faith survive the mangling of meaning that those algorithms love to reward? Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apart…? Or are there answers to find in its crevices? Are there ceremonies, rituals, dances that we might be missing in our lives? From the rite of Spring to Easter and its promise of rebirth and renewal… Patti Smith’s album Easter gave me so much hope when it was released in 1978. I wasn’t yet 18. The title is a nod to her.
‘We will attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date to remind the rest of the world we exist but in the meantime… this is between you and us.’
