U2 will release their 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz, on Friday, November 13, featuring a vocal duet between Bono and the late country music singer Dolly Parton on the track “Torn.” The 12-song collection marks the band’s first album of new material since 2017’s Songs of Experience and arrives 50 years after Larry Mullen Jr. posted a handwritten note on a school noticeboard seeking musicians to form a band.
Album Themes and Production Details
The album explores themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom, and endurance in the face of dark, encroaching forces. According to the band, Carnaval De Luz was recorded across multiple locations and produced by Jacknife Lee, with additional musical contributions and production assists from Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Ryan Tedder. Guitarist The Edge noted that the record features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording, describing the project as a messy, provocative, and sacred collection of songs.
The release follows two EPs dropped by the band earlier in the year: Days of Ash in February and Easter Lily in April. Speaking about the new full-length project, frontman Bono invited listeners into what he called a hall of mirrors featuring loud guitars, deep bass, and ecstatic rhythms, noting that the imagination bringing human creativity can also summon monsters.
Track Listing and Notable Collaborations
The closing track, “Torn,” features Parton singing alongside Bono on a tender country song detailing broken family ties. The track was co-written by U2, Parton, and Snow Patrol member Johnny McDaid, with Daniel Lanois playing pedal steel guitar on the recording.
Another prominent collaboration on the record is “The Mirror Maker,” which features Spanish singer Rosalía. The official track listing for Carnaval De Luz comprises:
- Go (Carnaval De Luz)
- La Reina
- Street Of Dreams
- The Mirror Maker (featuring Rosalía)
- Superficiality
- If The World Is At War We Better Not Be
- Silencio
- The Greatest Show On Earth
- Glorify
- Midnight Sunshine
- Can’t Stop Us Now
- Torn (featuring Dolly Parton)
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