U2 – Pop – K7 – UC210524334-4

Pop opens with a long, three-song overture played out on the dance floors of Europe. With “Discothèque,” the current single, U2’s music springs to life as this very sexy fucking thing. The track sounds like it could have been done by some immediate peer of Tricky or Underworld, someone who craved just a touch more vocal slide, a bit more melody, maybe a few more piles of guitar in the right corners. U2’s reading of the emotional plight of everyEuroyouth is so credible, so on. And their embrace of the spiritual side of dance music—long-present, as far back as the repeating ricochet of “I Will Follow”—seems quite natural.

James Hunter / SPIN