On 21 August 2017 , several U2 fans in the United States received cryptic letters via postal mail teasing a new release from the band . The letters contained text mentioning Blake 's '' Songs of Innocence and of Experience '' , with a silhouette of Bono 's son and the Edge 's daughter from the album cover blocking out most of the text except for a few words , revealing the message , " Blackout ... It 's ... clear ... who ... you are ... will ... appear ... U2.com " . The bottom of the letters said " U2 will announce " but blacked out the release title and date . Many of the recipients of the letter were in the path of that day 's solar eclipse . On 30 August , after posting a teaser online the day prior , the band unveiled a video on Facebook Live showing a live performance of the new song " The Blackout " . The video was part of a strategy to energise U2 's core fans on social media by reaching them with new music first . " The Blackout " video was viewed more than 2 million times in 24 hours and 11 million in over a week
that day 's solar eclipse
Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017
Songs of Experience (U2 album)