U2 Announces Carnaval de Luz, Its First New Album in Nine Years

U2 has announced Carnaval de Luz, the band’s first full album of newly written material in nine years. The 12-track project, produced by Jacknife Lee, is due in mid-November and is being introduced with the short, fast-moving single “Silencio.”

The album is U2’s 16th full-length studio project. Its themes include spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance, continuing ideas the group explored across two six-song releases earlier this year, Days of Ash and Easter Lily.

“Silencio” opens the new chapter

Rather than returning with a sweeping arena ballad, U2 chose a compact track as the first preview. “Silencio” runs a little over two and a half minutes and has been described as drawing on early surf-punk energy. The choice signals that the group is presenting the album as an active new phase, not simply a retrospective return after a long recording gap.

The title Carnaval de Luz also gives the record a place within the spiritual calendar behind the band’s recent work. Carnival comes before Lent, while the earlier companion releases referred to ash and Easter. That sequence links celebration, reflection and renewal across the three projects.

Dolly Parton appears on the closing track

The album ends with “Torn,” a duet with Dolly Parton. The song was co-written by U2, Parton and Johnny McDaid, with Daniel Lanois contributing pedal steel guitar. It centers on broken family ties while reaching for a wider emotional meaning.

The recording carries added weight because Parton’s contribution has been described as her final recorded vocal performance. She recorded the part in June, making the collaboration both a major guest appearance and a significant addition to her musical legacy.

Reports differ by one day on the exact release date, listing November 12 or November 13, but both place the album’s arrival in the same mid-November window. Until the label’s storefronts align on the date, listeners can start with “Silencio” and the album’s central promise: U2 returning with a complete set of new songs after nearly a decade.