Celebrating fifty years since its founding in a Dublin kitchen, the rock band U2 releases its new studio album, Carnaval De Luz, shifting its sound and working alongside producer Jacknife Lee.
The new release follows spring EPs “Days Of Ash” and “Easter Lily,” and moves the guitar lines of guitarist The Edge back to the center of instrumental attention. Former producers Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite participated in the recording sessions as guests and studio engineers, while the album itself serves as a celebration of life, friendship, and the discovery of new sounds within familiar musical foundations.
The formation of the group traces back fifty years to when fourteen-year-old drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posted an advertisement on a school bulletin board seeking bandmates. Their first rehearsal took place in his kitchen on Sept. 25, 1976, drawing singer Paul Hewson, guitarists David and Richard Evans, bassist Adam Clayton, and guitarist Ivan McCormick. They initially named themselves Feedback before becoming U2 two years later.
For albums released after 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon”—specifically “Songs of Innocence” in 2014, “Songs of Experience” in 2017, and “Songs of Surrender” in 2023—the band previously relied on large teams of producers or, in the case of the 2023 release, production by The Edge. For the new material, the musicians returned to working alongside a single producer in Jacknife Lee.
Tracks on the 46-minute-and-42-second release include the punk-inspired “Silencio,” the Rosalía tribute “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía),” the catchy “Street Of Dreams,” and “The Greatest Show On Earth,” which was created in collaboration with Brian Eno. The track list also features “Midnight Sunshine,” “Go (Carnaval De Luz),” and the stadium-ready “Superficiality,” which is driven by Adam Clayton’s bass guitar and features Bono’s falsetto.
Political themes surface in “La Reina” and the track “If the World Is at War We Better Not Be,” which addresses global conflicts, disinformation, and authoritarianism. Meanwhile, the closing track “Torn” feels somewhat exhausted and fails to break out of its repetitive structure.
