U2 frame Carnaval De Luz as messy, sacred and anarchic

Jacknife Lee steers twelve tracks due on 13 November, with Brian Eno, Martin Garrix and Daniel Lanois among the hands on the board and Silencio already out as a punk blast.

Further detail has now settled around U2's sixteenth studio album Carnaval De Luz, sharpening the production credits and the band's own account of a record The Edge has called messy, provocative and sacred, and Bono has described as anarchic. The twelve tracks are due on 13 November 2026 through Interscope Records. It is the Dublin group's first full-length set of new material in nine years, and it arrives in the year they mark five decades since forming.

Jacknife Lee produces the album. Brian Eno co-wrote and played synthesisers on three tracks, including the opener Go (Carnaval De Luz). Martin Garrix is credited on Glorify. Daniel Lanois worked on the closer Torn. Ryan Tedder supplied additional production on the single Silencio, which was released on the day the album was named, with an official music video. Silencio has been described as a concise, raging punk tune. Street Of Dreams, an earlier preview, was released in July.

Twelve titles and two EPs

The full tracklist now runs: Go (Carnaval De Luz), La Reina, Street Of Dreams, The Mirror Maker (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 and Torn (Feat. Dolly Parton).

Torn features what is described as Dolly Parton's final recorded vocal performance, in a duet co-written with Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol. Rosalía appears on The Mirror Maker. Conceptually the album is linked to the two surprise EPs U2 released earlier in 2026, Days Of Ash and Easter Lily — short-form releases that now read as groundwork for the longer set.

From Boy to the fiftieth year

U2 formed in Dublin in 1976 and still comprise Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. The early records were rooted in post-punk; the style has shifted across the decades while keeping an anthemic quality built on Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's chiming, effects-based guitar. Lyrics have often carried spiritual imagery alongside personal and sociopolitical themes. Live, the group have been known for elaborate tours.

The studio run on file stretches from Boy in 1980 and October the following year through War (1983), The Unforgettable Fire (1984) and on through the albums and tours that followed. More recent entries include the 2023 album Songs of Surrender, the single Atomic City the same year, the 2024 ZOO TV (Live in Dublin, 1993) EP, and the 2025 Stories Of Surrender EP with the Jacknife Lee Ensemble. Days Of Ash followed as an EP in 2026. Jacknife Lee's role on Carnaval De Luz therefore continues a working relationship visible on that ensemble release; Eno and Lanois reconnect the project with earlier studio partnerships, while Garrix and Tedder bring in newer names.

No tour accompanying the album has been announced. What stands is the 13 November release date, the Interscope imprint, the twelve song titles, the listed guests and producers, and the language the band have used for the work itself. Six weeks remain until Carnaval De Luz is out.