Review: U2 ascends with heartfelt Easter Lily EP

Days of Ash did a great job putting The Edge’s guitar back at the forefront. He’s had his moments, even on the more ambient Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience albums, but Days of Ash felt like a throwback to the guitar-driven days of early 2000s U2.

Easter Lily is more subdued than Days of Ash, but The Edge opens the EP by singing “Song for Hal,” a tribute to the late Hal Wilner. U2 has focused a lot on mortality in recent years, especially given some of Bono’s health scares.

Seeing that all four members of U2 are in their 60s, it feels incredibly timely that they are starting to take a broader look at mortality. It’s very akin to what Bruce Springsteen did with Letter to You in 2020.

“Song for Hal” is a more meditative opener than “American Obituary” from Days of Ash, which has the chilling opening line, “You have the right to remain silent… or not.”

The Edge has always had a very tender voice to counterbalance Bono’s. It’s especially evident in the band’s live performances. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Beautiful Day” wouldn’t hit the same without The Edge.

He rarely gets lead vocals, hitting it out of the park with “Van Diemen’s Land” on Rattle and Hum, and he delivers “Song for Hal” gently while soaring with his falsetto.

Bono’s standout vocal track

Bono also shines with a wide range of vocal performances on Easter Lily. His best moment comes at the end of “COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?),” the EP’s final track.

The song is the closest U2 has come to sounding like Coldplay since “Landlady,” especially given Bono’s modulated vocals that paint a lunar landscape.

Bono has one of the best voices in rock history. His confidence is at an all-time high at the end of “COEXIST.” He sings the last bit a capella, vulnerably showcasing his voice, which has aged like a fine wine.

As “Book of Your Heart” showed, Bono has become extremely comfortable with his lower register. He can still belt, as he does on “In Your Life,” but there’s a coolness to how he delivers songs like “COEXIST.”

The last bit of “COEXIST” harkens back to his vocal performances on his solo Stories of Surrender Tour. Bono would occasionally sing a capella, which were some of the most breathtaking parts of the show.

Going back to the early 2000s

Musically, Easter Lily is similar to Days of Ash in that it’s reminiscent of U2’s last Grammy-winning album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and the shadow album How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb.

“Scars” in particular sounds like the best parts of “Yahweh” and “Country Mile,” while “In a Life” builds up like a classic U2 anthem a la “City of Blinding Lights.”

The biggest strength in U2’s music has been its universality; The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby both thrived on it. Even when writing about something as specific as their experiences in Dublin in the ’70s. U2 and Bono’s best lyrics are relatable, even if written from his experiences.

In the last few years, U2’s focus has become narrower, given the autobiographical and personal nature of their last two proper studio albums. Bono still wrote some of his best lyrics on the introspective Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, but Easter Lily steps back to a macro level. Themes of mortality and loss aren’t new to U2’s music, but these are some of their most accessible songs in years.

The theme of mortality

Religious themes have always been prevalent in U2’s music. “Resurrection Song” and “Easter Parade” may be two of their more on-the-nose titles, but they’re both special tracks.

Sonically, “Resurrection Song” sounds like the modernization of songs from U2’s Unforgettable Fire album, more specifically the title track and “A Sort of Homecoming.”

In “Resurrection Song,” Bono, who will turn 65 in May, acknowledges there once was a time when they “had a lot of miles to go.” Now, “Road sign, the death and resurrection show.”

On Songs of Experience, Bono talked about his near-death experience on “Lights of Home.” Now, almost a decade later, he’s got a refreshed view on the subject of mortality. Years removed from the scariness of that experience, Bono takes an even-keel approach to the topic.

Still, even he knows he’s “not done yet.”

“Easter Parade” gives Adam Clayton his standout performance on the EP. His bass riff has a “Taxman”-like quality, and The Edge’s piano playing creates a Brian Eno-like soundscape. Ironically, Eno created the soundscape of the EP’s last track, “COEXIST.”

Should you listen to U2’s Easter Lily?

It took almost three years, not three days, for U2 to rise again, but here they are with two EPs (11 songs across them) in less than two months.

Days of Ash was a return to kick a-- music from U2. Easter Lily is a return to the level of intimacy that made U2 a household name.

In many ways, Easter Lily represents the best parts of the underrated No Line on the Horizon. It’s a spiritual listening experience, and U2 has grounded itself with this EP.

By all accounts, U2’s last two EPs display a band entering their latest — not last — prime. This is a group that sounds as inspired as ever. There’s something interesting about what U2 is doing with their last couple of projects. If these two EPs are any indication, their best days are ahead.

There’s nothing more exciting than when U2 is in a groove. They are the biggest band in the world, and the range they’ve shown on these last two EPs alone has reminded everyone of that.

U2’s Easter Lily is available on streaming platforms.