---
title: U2 Close Carnaval De Luz, Their First Album in Nine Years, With Dolly Parton's Last Recorded Vocal
description: U2 release Carnaval De Luz on 13th November. The full tracklist, the Dolly Parton duet Torn, Eno and Lanois, and the 2027 London tour dates.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-11-06T14:00:00.064Z
updated: 2026-11-06T14:00:00.097Z
canonical: https://thequantumoflight.com/article/u2-carnaval-de-luz-dolly-parton
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-5764288.webp
categories: Music 
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: The Quantum of Light
about:
  - type: Organization
    name: U2
    description: U2 is an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976 by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. Their albums include The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, and their 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz, was released in November 2026.
    url: https://www.u2.com
    foundingDate: 1976-09-25T00:00:00.000Z
    industry: Music
    sameAs:
      - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2
---

U2 release *Carnaval De Luz* on Friday 13th November. It is the band's 16th studio album and their first full album of new songs since *Songs of Experience* in 2017. It closes with 'Torn', a duet between Bono and the late Dolly Parton that the band describes as her last recorded vocal performance.

Bono told Rolling Stone that Parton was already ill when the song was made: 'she got out of her bed to sing this song.' 'Torn' began as a Parton composition. Bono and Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid rewrote its lyrics into the story of a mother watching her family split apart, and Parton agreed to sing the new version. She shares the writing credit with U2 and McDaid.

## Carnaval De Luz Tracklist

The album runs to 12 songs:

1. Go (Carnaval De Luz)
2. La Reina
3. Street of Dreams
4. The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)
5. Superficiality
6. If the World Is at War We Better Not Be
7. Silencio
8. The Greatest Show on Earth
9. Glorify
10. Midnight Sunshine
11. Can't Stop Us Now
12. Torn (featuring Dolly Parton)

Three songs are already out. 'Street of Dreams' arrived on 7th July, 'Silencio' on 24th September and 'The Greatest Show on Earth' on 15th October. 'Silencio' lasts two minutes and 35 seconds, and the band calls it a homage to early surf punk.

## Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Jacknife Lee

Jacknife Lee produced the record, and two familiar names are back. Brian Eno co-wrote and plays synthesisers on 'Go (Carnaval De Luz)', 'The Greatest Show on Earth' and 'Can't Stop Us Now'. Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel on 'Torn'. Eno and Lanois produced *The Unforgettable Fire* in 1984, *The Joshua Tree* in 1987 and *Achtung Baby* in 1991, the run of records that made U2 one of the biggest bands in the world.

Martin Garrix co-wrote 'Glorify' and Ryan Tedder added production to 'Silencio'. The Edge says the album contains the first use of flat-wound guitar strings on any U2 recording.

Track four is about the Spanish singer Rosalía. Bono fell for her 2025 album *Lux*, sung in 13 languages, and noticed that its title and his own both mean light. Lee has said the version on the album is the 196th attempt at the song.

## Days of Ash and Easter Lily

The album grew out of the same sessions as two six-track EPs U2 released without warning earlier this year, *Days of Ash* and *Easter Lily*. Those followed the church calendar towards Easter. *Carnaval De Luz* takes its name from carnival, the feast before Lent, so in the band's story it comes before both EPs. The limited deluxe CD box gathers all three records, and by the end of 2026 U2 will have released 24 new songs in their 50th year. The band formed in Dublin on 25th September 1976.

## The Greatest Show on Earth Tour and London Dates

The Greatest Show on Earth tour opens at the Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City on 23rd February 2027, moves through São Paulo and Buenos Aires with Beck in support, then reaches Europe with Wolf Alice. The European leg starts in Stockholm on 26th April and takes in Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan.

London gets three nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 18th, 19th and 22nd June 2027. The third date was added on 5th November after demand for the first two, and its tickets went on general sale at 10am on 6th November.

If you collect vinyl, Guinness has made a limited pearl white marble pressing with a double-sided print by Bono. It goes on sale at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin and the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London from 13th November, and part of the proceeds goes to the Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund. The link is older than it looks: in 1978, two years after they formed, U2 won a Guinness-sponsored Harp Lager talent competition in Limerick.

Full details of every edition are on [u2.com](https://www.u2.com/blogs/news/carnaval-de-luz-new-album-coming-in-november).

## FAQ

**Q: What does Carnaval De Luz mean?**
Carnaval De Luz is Spanish and Portuguese for 'carnival of light'. It is the title of U2's 16th studio album, released on 13th November 2026. Carnival is the festival of feasting before Lent, and the album title pairs that celebration with light, a theme the band connects with faith and hope across its songs.