A secret duet between Dolly Parton and U2's Bono is set to appear on the Irish rockers' upcoming album, Carnaval De Luz. The track, titled Torn, is described as being about broken family ties.
New album details
The country music song was co-written by the band, Parton and Snow Patrol star Johnny McDaid. It appears on U2's 16th album, which is their first collection of new material since Songs Of Surrender, released in 2017. The first single, Street Of Dreams, was released in July.
Carnaval De Luz is reportedly a collection of 12 songs that explore themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance “in the face of dark, encroaching forces”. The album will be released on November 13.
Band members speak out
The announcement comes 50 years after U2 formed, when Larry Mullen Jr pinned a handwritten note to the noticeboard of Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin in September 1976. Bono said: “Roll up, roll up, 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! Because in the near distance just outside our carnival of light there are all kinds of creatures… the same imagination that brings us our creativity can also bring us monsters.
“So we make the drums louder. We build a bigger fire. We make our stories wilder and funnier. We make the melodies sweeter and the songs, they better shine, because if the world is in darkness we better not be.”
The Edge added: “It’s a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs — and features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording. Just saying.”
Parton's death and posthumous releases
Parton died in August at the age of 80 following a “brief battle with cancer”. Her death was announced by nephew Bryan Seaver on Instagram. “I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he said. “It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.”
Representatives for the country star confirmed the Jolene singer's death followed a brief battle with cancer, but didn't disclose any further information. The statement went on: "After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones."
Parton's first posthumous song was released just two weeks after her death, when she contributed to Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers, a tribute album for The Stanley Brothers.
