U2 have dropped their latest team‑up with Martin Garrix, a roaring stadium track called Fireflies.
The rock legends have a growing history with the Dutch superstar – from 2019’s We Are The People to Garrix originating Scars on their Easter Lily EP earlier this year.
Their newest anthem made its explosive debut at Tomorrowland, where Garrix brought out guitarist The Edge to unveil the song live to a packed crowd.
The Edge said: “We go back a long way with Martin, and there’s always a sense of adventure whenever we get together.”
He continued: “Playing Fireflies for the first time at Tomorrowland, in front of one of the most passionate festival crowds anywhere, was such a rush… in fact I might have enjoyed it a bit too much. It reminded me of why I love playing outdoors. I like it better when there’s no ceiling.”
The track was dusted off after six years.
Martin shared: “Fireflies has a very unique mood. It’s a special song we started working on six summers ago.
“It felt electrifying and very surreal to finally debut it at Tomorrowland with The Edge.”
He added: “I’ve worked with Bono and Edge before, but working with the whole band I got to get a glimpse of their chemistry and why U2 are who they are. It has been an absolute honour to work with them again.”
The collaboration comes after U2 released the new song Street Of Dreams ahead of their first studio album of new songs in nine years.
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr returned to his sticks for the upcoming record, which is as-yet untitled, after he was forced to miss the band’s 2023-24 residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The band also dropped a music video for Street Of Dreams, which was shot in Mexico City.
According to RTE, during the video shoot, the band put in an impromptu acoustic performance from a local family’s apartment balcony near Plaza Santo Domingo, after inclement weather conditions caused a generator to crash.
U2 – who are to mark their 50th anniversary in September – released their last studio album, Songs of Surrender, in March 2023.
The record was made up of 40 re-recorded and reinterpreted acoustic and reimagined versions of their classic songs from across their career.
However, it has been nearly nine years since they dropped a studio album of new material, Songs of Experience, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
In February, U2 released six-track EP Days of Ash, which included five new songs by the Irish rockers, as well as a poem by late Israeli poet and author Yehuda Amichai.
Some of the tunes were about people whose lives were tragically cut short.
This included Iranian schoolgirl Sarina Esmailzadeh, Minneapolis mother Renée Good, and Palestinian dad and No Other Land documentary consultant Awdah Hathaleen.