U2 Releases Days of Ash EP, Larry Mullen Jr. Back on Drums

Larry Mullen Jr. is back behind the kit and you heard it first with U2’s surprise six-song EP, Days of Ash, which the band released on February 18, 2026. The unexpected drop immediately doubled as a statement: the group is in the studio working on a full-length album with Mullen on drums again.

The Days of Ash EP contains six tracks and arrived without the slow-build lead-up that has marked other U2 rollouts; fans found the music and the announcement together on February 18, 2026. That simultaneous release and confirmation changed the conversation from single-track teases to the practical reality that U2 is actively recording new material with its founding drummer involved.

Rolling Stone’s coverage of the release noted the studio work and specifically tied the Days of Ash rollout to confirmation that a new U2 album is in the works with Larry Mullen Jr. back on drums. Naming Mullen as the drummer on these sessions matters: he is a founding member, and the band’s notice that he is involved in the recording puts him in the driver’s seat for the rhythmic foundation of whatever comes next.

As a drummer who follows studio news closely, I read this as more than nostalgia. Days of Ash is six finished pieces that give the band room to signal new directions while actively tracking a full-length album with Mullen playing. That matters to players paying attention to arrangement and production choices, because the presence of a specific drummer in the room changes beat placement, fills, and the way songs are built in the studio.

Expect Days of Ash to be treated as the first public evidence of the sessions rather than the final word. The release on February 18, 2026, and the linked confirmation of a full-length recording with Larry Mullen Jr. on drums sets a clear line: U2 is recording, Mullen is in the studio, and the next full album will reflect those sessions.