The U2 song Bono classified as “sci-fi Sinatra”
Throughout their career, U2 have never let the ball stop rolling. Since the release of their first LP, Boy, in 1980, the band have released a total of 15 studio albums, which is impressive by any measure. 2017 saw the Irish rock band release Songs of Experience, a companion piece to their 2014 preceding record Songs of Innocence. Both albums are thematically very personal, with the latter exploring the youth of U2 and the former covering close relationships in Bono’s later life.
The title track from Songs of Experience is noticeably very different from the iconic rock sounds of the Irish foursome. ‘Love Is All We Have Left’ is a shift from noisy guitars and powerful vocals and explores a softer sound. As an opener, it plays a gentle role in introducing the record. The listener is welcomed with a super reverbed synthesiser that feels like an opening to another realm before Bono’s equally reverbed voice echoes around the mix.
This ease is something that was intended by the band, with Bono describing the track as having “a weightlessness that is key because, in truth, some of the subjects are very heavy”. The light sound is a beautiful contrast to some of the darker content on the record, which explores themes of mortality. While perhaps initially sounding bleak, the sung declaration that “love is all we have left” offers an optimistic edge to the notion that nothing else remains in the world but love, but what a great thing to be left with.
Aside from the instrumentation, the vocals in the opener also weigh in very differently from what one might associate with Bono’s belting. He begins softly, but then halfway through, the listener is met with a Bono via a vocoder. This adds to the weightlessness, putting an even greater focus on the higher registers of his voice, transcending any bassy weight from underneath.
Bono fittingly described the vocal performance as “sci-fi Sinatra”. It does sound incredibly beautiful, but the performance hints at a difficult shaping of the future that can only be made easier to bear by distancing from humanity with modulation. This presents a dystopian aspect of the classical feeling of love and the classical beauty in a voice like Sinatra’s, and it reframes it in U2’s first song of experience. This is why it’s so impressive and important that U2 have continued to work hard to release well-thought-out records. The exploration of sound and confidence with which the band members can confront troubling themes in their work can only be handled with a nuanced, detailed outlook towards life.
‘Love Is All We Have Left’ works as a bookend with ‘13 (There Is A Light)’, which shares similar sonic qualities of reverberation and synthesis. However, it leaves a more positive message, with the lyrics “there is a light, don’t let it go out”, encouraging a state of hope for listeners.
