U2 announce album Carnaval De Luz after nine years. It will close with Dolly Parton's last recording

The band U2 will release their sixteenth studio album, Carnaval De Luz, on 13 November, nine years after their last. The single Silencio is a preview of it, preceded by the track Street of Dreams, and besides these two the album will bring ten more songs. The band's story began in September 1976, when Larry Mullen Jr. pinned a handwritten note to a noticeboard at a Dublin school saying he was looking for a band. Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton joined him. GREGI.NET ↗

The band's official announcement of 24 September describes the album as a collection of twelve songs about spirituality, friendship, freedom and perseverance in the face of dark forces. It was recorded in various locations and produced by Jacknife Lee. According to the band, its sound returns to their most experimental work, combined with rigorous songwriting. U2.com ↗

The single Silencio runs two minutes and 35 seconds, and the band describes it as a tribute to the brashness of early surf punk. The video was shot this year in Mexico City and is directed by the Mexican-American duo Cliqua, that is, Pasqual Gutiérrez and Raúl “RJ” Sanchez. Additional production on the track was done by Ryan Tedder. Street of Dreams, the first preview of the album, came out in July. U2.com ↗



Rolling Stone points out that U2 first played together in Larry Mullen Jr.'s kitchen on 25 September 1976, exactly fifty years ago. According to the magazine, Bono calls the album “anarchic”. The magazine describes the opening track, Go (Carnaval De Luz), which is influenced by the band Suicide, as U2's wildest recording in years. “It's a statement of intent,” The Edge says of it. Brian Eno contributed to the songwriting and played synthesizers on three tracks, including the opener. Rolling Stone ↗

Producer Jacknife Lee says that in all his years of working with bands he has never seen anyone work with such intensity and joy, and that it is the most U2 have ever recorded in any period of their career. According to the magazine, much of that energy came from the return of Larry Mullen Jr. after a serious neck injury. “I couldn't play. I didn't think I'd play again,” says the drummer. Adam Clayton adds that the bass is louder than on their more recent albums. Rolling Stone ↗

The album's title is connected to two EPs that the band released as a surprise earlier this year. Days of Ash and Easter Lily have six tracks each and follow the liturgical calendar. Carnival, a celebration of the flesh (“carne”), precedes Lent, so in the liturgical calendar the album comes before both EPs. The linking piece is the closing track, Torn. In total, U2 will thus release twenty-four new songs this year. U2.com ↗

This is U2's first proper album of new material since Songs of Experience in 2017. Martin Garrix, with whom the band also released the standalone track Fireflies this year, contributed to the track Glorify. Fireflies, however, will not appear on the album. musicserver.cz ↗

The greatest attention goes to the album's ending. Torn is a country song that U2 recorded together with Dolly Parton, and it is about broken family relationships. It was recorded in June, two months before Parton died on 25 August at the age of 80. According to Novinky.cz, it was written jointly by the band, Parton and Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol. Novinky.cz ↗

According to Rolling Stone, Bono originally wanted to bring Parton in on a still-unreleased side project inspired by Irish folk music. She replied that it was “a little too Irish for me” and offered her own song, Torn, for him to take somewhere else. Bono and McDaid rewrote the lyrics so that they tell of a mother watching her family fall apart, and Parton agreed to sing this version. “When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono recalls. She still managed to approve the final mix and, according to producer Jacknife Lee, she was proud of her vocal. Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel guitar. Rolling Stone ↗

“Roll up, roll up, roll up!” Bono urges in the press release, promising loud guitars, deep bass, ecstatic rhythms and even silver tears. The Edge calls the album a “messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs” and adds that it contains the very first use of flatwound strings on a U2 recording. The album will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally, and limited deluxe boxes and coloured vinyl editions are also being prepared. U2.com ↗

U2 on The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 in Brussels, archive photo. Photo: Remy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0