SWAN SONG

First U2 Album in 9 Years Features Dolly Parton’s Last Recorded Vocals

The band celebrates its 50th anniversary with 24 songs released in a calendar year, one with the late Dolly Parton’s last-ever vocal recording.

U2 is finally releasing a new album after a nine-year gap, and the final track is a collaboration with Dolly Parton—her last recorded vocals before her death in August. The 12-song album Carnaval De Luz is set for release on November 2, “exploring themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance in the face of dark, encroaching forces,” according to a Thursday press release. The Parton song, which the release said “has sadly turned out to be her last recorded vocal performance,” is titled “Torn.” She co-wrote it with U2 and songwriter Johnny McDaid as a “tender country song detailing broken family ties,” the release said. While U2 has taken a hiatus from releasing full albums, the band did release two EPs this year themed after Easter and Ash Wednesday. Those songs don’t overlap with the new album, so the band will have released 24 songs in a year by this November amid its 50th anniversary. “Roll up!… Bring your purple socks, your broken hearts, your rose-tinted naivety… oh be amazed in the hall of mirrors. There will be loud guitars, deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms, and, yes, some silver tears will make an appearance,” Bono said in a statement.