There continues to be a spring in their step and a hungry gleam in their eyes. On the 30th anniversary of Achtung Baby, perhaps their finest album, U2 clearly still have a few firecrackers up their sleeves. ItвЂ™s mono Bono, a slowed-down Beautiful Day bobbing in a huge mug of Ovaltine. U2 fans are unlikely to remember Your Song Saved My Life for terribly long. Especially when the alternative is Bono and the Edge pretending to be the Script, as was the case on their Euro 2020 We Are the People hook-up with the DJ MartinВ Garrix. Would that be a terrible turn of events? There are worse things than musicians with a rich and varied catalogue turning into their own covers act. If this is a teaser of where theyвЂ™re at, then the next chapter could be a story of Karaoke U2.

And what under-10 cares about any of those?Д«ut what does the song say about U2вЂ™s potential future? Adam Clayton revealed over the summer that the band are at work on a new LP. Alas, all Sing really has going for it are its musical cameos вЂ“ Jennifer Hudson and Tori Kelly starred in the original the sequel will feature Pharrell Williams. Sing 2, released in January 2022, promises to be more interesting, given that it will feature Bono voicing a вЂњreclusiveвЂќ (ha!) rock star named Clay Calloway. The original Sing was brash and soulless. And by the standards of their pretty wobbly last few LPs, the fact that it is thumpingly catchy and only moderately cloying arrives almost as a relief.ДЄs an appetite-whetter for Sing 2 it is probably less successful. Who else, though, has pulled that off? That being the case, Your Song Saved My Life ticks many classic-U2 boxes by being epic and very, very sincere. David Bowie continued to confound and astound deep into the twilight of his artistic journey. More than four decades in, U2 are probably well past the point of reinvention. BonoвЂ™s voice has acquired a creaking timbre, and the lyrics вЂ“ вЂњAre you a stranger in your own life? What are you hiding behind those eyes?вЂќ вЂ“ express the sorts of feelings that are typical of people in late middle age: life is bittersweet, friends will be lost along the way, but weвЂ™ll always have music. ThereвЂ™s also something quietly lovely about U2вЂ™s willingness to make peace with their station as elder statesman of anthemic rock. Especially when the alternative is Bono and the Edge pretending to be the Script There are worse things than musicians with a rich and varied catalogue turning into their own covers act.

Fintan OвЂ™Toole: Bono at 60 вЂ“ Why is Ireland so ambivalent about its most famous son?.

U2вЂ™s Bono lobbied government on housing, database shows.Be a good friendвЂ™: BonoвЂ™s вЂsix thoughts for sixth classвЂ™ Their Achtung Grandad years, if you will. Yet its refrain вЂ“ вЂњYour song saved my life вЂ¦ I sing it to surviveвЂќ вЂ“ is undeniably soothing, no matter that it appears to herald the pipe-and-slippers phase of U2вЂ™s adventures in pop. The results arenвЂ™t world-shaking, and Your Song Saved My Life is a long way from being cutting edge. After a lilting piano opening, the tune builds to a big, weepy chorus featuring Bono and EdgeвЂ™s voices in gruff unison. The guitarist does seemingly pop up on the chorus, however. It is uplifting in a generic sort of way, and is 90 per cent Bono emoting his lungs out, with swooping strings coming in during the part where the Edge was traditionally given permission to cut loose.

Your Song Saved My Life is U2 pastiching U2, which isnвЂ™t necessarily a disastrous decision at this point in their career. U2вЂ™s new single soundtracks the animated film Sing 2, so it is fitting that it has a vaguely cartoonish quality.

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