U2 have announced their first new album in nine years, Carnaval De Luz, will be out on November 13, 2026.
The legendary Irish band’s 16th studio album comes as they celebrate 50 years since drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posted an ad at the Mount Temple Comprehensive School on the Northside of Dublin saying, ‘Drummer Seeks Musicians To Form Band’.
Produced by Jacknife Lee (R.E.M., The Killers), Carnaval De Luz features 12 songs that explore themes of “spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance in the face of dark, encroaching forces.”
According to the press release, “the roots of Carnaval De Luz can be traced directly to U2’s two surprise-released and critically acclaimed six-track EPs of early 2026, recorded during the same creative period as the new album. Those releases, Days of Ash and Easter Lily, followed the liturgical calendar, and so Carnaval De Luz sits, stands and dances before them in timeline. Carnival, a celebration of the flesh, ‘carne’, before the denial that is Lent, a period of reflection, and the rebirth of Easter.”
The album features a duet between frontman Bono and the recently-departed Dolly Parton on a song called “Torn.” The tender country song details broken family ties serves as a bridge connecting the album and two EPs. Co-written by U2, Parton and Johnny McDaid, “Torn” is said to be her last recorded vocal performance.
Other collaborators featured on the album include Brian Eno, Martin Garrix, Daniel Lanois and additional production from Ryan Tedder.
“It’s a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs — and features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording,” says guitarist The Edge. “Just saying.”
“Roll up, roll up, roll up! Bring your purple socks, your broken hearts, your rose-tinted naivety… oh be amazed in the hall of mirrors,“ says Bono. ”There will be loud guitars, deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms and, yes, some silver tears will make an appearance!"
“‘Cause in the near distance just outside our carnival of light there are all kinds of creatures… the same imagination that brings us our creativity can also bring us monsters,“ he adds. ”So we make the drums louder. We build a bigger fire. We make our stories wilder and funnier. We make the melodies sweeter and the songs, they better shine, because if the world is in darkness we better not be.”
Hear the first single “Silencio” below.