PARIS – Irish rock band U2 have revealed the title of their upcoming 15th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, just days before the 50th anniversary of the band’s formation.

Lead singer Bono confirmed the long-rumoured album title on an Irish Times podcast on Wednesday, as fans prepare to mark five decades since the four members first came together as teenagers in Dublin.

“I can’t say it. I’m going to say it,” Bono teased before revealing the album’s title.

“The new album is called Carnaval de Luz … it’s strong stuff,” he said while reflecting on the band’s remarkable career.

U2 – comprising Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen – first came together in Mullen’s Dublin kitchen on 25 September 1976.

The milestone will be celebrated this weekend with U250, a fan-organised event in Dublin. The anniversary will also be marked by the release of a new €2 commemorative coin by the Central Bank of Ireland on Friday.

U2 continue to reinvent themselves

The new album, the band’s first since 2017’s Songs of Experience, highlights the longevity of one of Ireland’s most successful musical exports.

U2’s career began modestly. The teenage musicians were inexperienced when they first started rehearsing and later faced uncertainty after their second album, October, received a disappointing response.

They went on to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s and 1990s, producing global hits and building a career spanning five decades.

The band are estimated to have sold about 175 million albums and currently have more than 23 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Alex Conyngham, owner of Slane Castle in Ireland, where U2 have performed and recorded, said the band’s willingness to evolve had been central to their longevity.

“Every album, they keep pushing creative boundaries,” he told AFP.

“That’s always been in their DNA. They’ve never been a band that have just rested on the hits.”

The forthcoming album follows the release of new music this year, including Street of Dreams in July.

Aidan Alcock, director of Dublin’s Windmill Lane recording studios, where U2 recorded their debut album, Boy, and its two successors, also highlighted the band’s ability to surprise their audience.

“They’re always full of surprises. And I think that’s what keeps them going as well,” he told AFP.

Bono said his continued pursuit of perfection remained a major motivation.

“I suppose it’s always the thought that just around the corner lies the perfect song or the perfect performance … it’s mad to say but that’s still the drug of choice in our band,” he told The Irish Times.

U2’s global cultural influence

Beyond their music, U2 have become prominent symbols of Ireland’s cultural identity and among the country’s best-known figures internationally.

At an exhibition marking the band’s 50th anniversary in Paris on Tuesday, Irish ambassador to France Alison Milton described U2 as part of Ireland’s international “soft power”.

Exhibition curator Clément Mathieu, a journalist with Paris Match, attributed the band’s international appeal to their ability to produce major hits while retaining a distinctive identity.

“There’s something of the Irish soul in them: there’s passion, there’s love, there’s anger,” Mathieu told AFP.

“U2’s music isn’t particularly marked by an Irish sound, it’s more marked by the Irish soul and the Irish heart.”

With Carnaval de Luz on the horizon, speculation is likely to turn to whether U2 will return to the road for another series of stadium concerts.

Conyngham said the band’s live performances remained an important part of their appeal.

“They’re one of the great performing bands,” he told AFP.

“If you go to a U2 gig, you’re never going to be disappointed in terms of the energy and commitment that they show up with. They’re really hardworking.”