U2's Carnaval de Luz Revives Classic Sound with Defiant Joy
U2's first album of new songs in nearly a decade, Carnaval de Luz, marks a powerful return to loud guitars and anthemic rock, hailed as their most passionate work in over 30 years.
U2 has released its 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, its first collection of new songs in almost a decade. The record arrives after the band's Days of Ash EP in February and is seen as a rousing, restorative effort following years of creative turbulence.
Larry Mullen Jr. has returned to the drums after medical issues. The band's last two decades included attempts at pop, experimentation, a Joshua Tree anniversary tour, and the 2023 reworking of old songs for Songs of Surrender, but none matched the success of their golden run from the 1980s to the 1990s. This new work is considered some of their best in more than 30 years.
Sound and production
The album signals a return to loud guitars and synths, produced by longtime collaborator Brian Eno. Its opener, 'Go (Carnaval de Luz)', sets the tone with electronically treated guitars and a pounding rhythm. Bono stated the return to 'loud guitars' was designed to bring a 'more defiantly joyful feel' for anxious times. The track's manifesto promotes light in darkness, with Bono singing, "A carnival of light / Illumination is the way to fight this."
Key tracks and themes
Spiritual references and metaphors abound more than on any recent U2 album. 'Street of Dreams' contains a musical hint of the classic 'Where the Streets Have No Name'. 'La Reina' echoes the vibe of 'Even Better Than the Real Thing' from the Achtung Baby era. 'If the World Is at War We Better Not Be' reflects on faith and the power of ordinary lives, referencing the band's beginnings at Mount Temple comprehensive school in Dublin in 1976.
The album is packed with potential anthems. 'The Greatest Show on Earth' is an Eno-assisted treatise on showbiz, organized religion, God, and love, predicted to become a live staple like 'With or Without You'. 'Silencio' is described as a convincing punk rocker for men in their 60s. 'The Mirror Maker' serves as a call-and-response tribute to Catalan superstar Rosalía.
Critical reception and lyrical style
Critics have received the album positively, noting its defiantly joyful feel and rousing rock sound. The review concluded that none of the tracks let the side down. The work is filled with trademark earnest Bono-isms, including the line, "Don't you give up on your dream … and your dreams won't give up on you." Another track, 'Superficiality', features Bono singing, 'Freedom is a feeling, it's a feeling that I have around you'.
Material from the band's two other EPs this year, 'American Obituary', 'The Tears of Things', and 'In a Life', only appears on the album's deluxe edition. The album's only slightly downbeat moment is its closer, 'Torn', a hymnal duet between Bono and the late Dolly Parton, featuring pedal steel by Daniel Lanois.
