\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the 1988 documentary Rattle and Hum<\/em>, B.B. King chats with Bono<\/a>, then 27. The bluesman reflects on his station in life: \u201c[People] say, \u2018There he is, a 62-year-old \u2014 and what is he trying to do?’\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s a question that U2<\/a>\u2018s members may have asked themselves as they worked on Carnaval de Luz<\/em><\/a>, their 16th full-length and first album of original music in nearly a decade. They were teens when the group formed in Dublin half a century ago, in their thirties when their art-damaged rock started to \u201cfuck up the mainstream,\u201d<\/a> middle-aged when they reinvented themselves with \u201cBeautiful Day,\u201d and old enough to know better when they brute-forced Songs of Innocence <\/em>onto your iPhone. Their resume boasts multiplatinum Number One hits, instant sellout tours, and household-name status. But now, here they are, sixtysomething years old \u2014 and what are they trying to do?<\/p>\n \n\tU2 show they\u2019re nowhere close to a finish line on Carnaval de Luz<\/em><\/a>, whose central theme seems to be \u201cit\u2019s not too late\u201d: It\u2019s not too late to party (\u201cGo [Carnaval de Luz]\u201d), not too late to find God (\u201cMidnight Sunshine\u201d), not too late for empathy (\u201cTorn\u201d), not too late to save a relationship (\u201cIf the World Is at War We Better Not Be\u201d), not too late to save the world (\u201cStreet of Dreams\u201d), and just plain not too late (\u201cCan\u2019t Stop Us Now\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tEach song is tight and punchy, memorable and melodic. The music is the opposite of the blues, as well as U2\u2019s legend-making hits; it\u2019s big, bright pop music with more silver linings than clouds and only a few minor keys. As always, U2 work best when they\u2019re not trying too hard. The songs on Carnaval <\/em>never recall \u201cPride (in the Name of Love),\u201d or \u201cOne,\u201d or \u201cStuck in a Moment,\u201d but they do sound like U2 every time Bono opens his mouth and croons something profound (\u201cNobody is alone but nobody knows that,\u201d on \u201cLa Reina\u201d) as much as when he belts something a little corny (\u201cSing-a-ling the reggaeton,\u201d also on \u201cLa Reina\u201d). They sound like U2 whenever the Edge<\/a>\u2018s guitar echoes and chimes (\u201cStreet of Dreams,\u201d the intro to \u201cThe Mirror Maker [Rosal\u00eda]\u201d), when Adam Clayton<\/a>\u2018s bass stabs and undulates (\u201cLa Reina\u201d), and when Larry Mullen Jr<\/a>. plays a propulsive, march-like rhythm (\u201cCan\u2019t Stop Us Now\u201d) \u2014 affectations that come to them naturally.<\/p>\n