Street Of Dreams: U2 give fans first taste of new album with surprise single release
The cover image of U2's new single, Street Of Dreams. Picture: Viviane Sassen
U2 fans have already heard fresh music from the band this year, but on Tuesday they got a taste of a much-anticipated album when the Irish foursome released the first single from the new record.
follows on from two EPs released earlier in 2026, and is the first tune from an album the band have been working on since the beginning of the year.
The upbeat new track is produced by Dublin-born studio wizard Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee, a longterm associate of the group, and the cover picture by Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen features the besuited foursome striding through water.
The forthcoming long player – yet to be titled, but presumably slated for release later this year – will be Bono and co’s first album since in 2017.
In April, the singer had also confirmed that the band were also looking forward to getting back touring, stating the group were “working towards a noisy, messy, 'unreasonably colourful’ album to play live… which is where U2 lives”.
In May, photographs of the band in Mexico City had emerged as they shot the video for with the inclement weather closely mirroring conditions seen in the city during recent World Cup games. While on their visit to Mexico, the group also took in some of the 2026 Street Child World Cup Finals.
Both recent EPs – and – were well received by critics, with some observers ascribing the newly-energised sound to the return of drummer Larry Mullen Jnr, following his absence from the 40-gig series of shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas in 2023/24 due to injury.
This is also a big year for U2 as they mark 50 years since the 14-year-old aspiring sticksman stuck a note on the noticeboard at Mount Temple Comprehensive in Clontarf, Dublin, in September 1976 reading: “Drummer seeks musicians to form band.”
