GET ON YOUR BOOTS

Another urgent, declamatory stomp-rocker, apparently positing sex, or pleasure in general, as the enemy of war and the antidote to evil. There are officially two kinds of people in this world: Those who completely loathe this fuzz-busting dance-rock single, and those who agree with Bono: “You don’t get it, do you?” Either way, this ode to women ruling the world is easily the brashest track on the album. OK, I’ll buy that. Key lyric: “Love and community/ Laughter is eternity/ If joy is real.”

STAND UP COMEDY This funky workout is somewhere between Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction’s Entourage theme Superhero — but with a typical U2 chorus. “My ego’s not the enemy,” Bono claims. If he says so. Key lyric: “The DNA lottery may have left you smart/ But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart?”

FEZ – BEING BORN

Substantial evidence of Eno’s fingerprints all over this one, Sarge, particularly the two-minute introductory sonic collage that gives way to the gently choppy riff and Bono’s impressions of a journey to Morocco. A bit of a mess, to be honest. Key lyric: “Head first then foot/ Then heart sets sail…”

WHITE AS SNOW

Quiet number with acoustic guitar, keyboard and French horn providing background wash for a song blending memories of childhood, admissions of religious doubt and reflections on changed motives. Suitably atmospheric and chilly, with plucked acoustic guitars and tinkling keyboards, this wintry ballad about lost innocence sounds like Radiohead attempting folk music. Key lyric: “Now the wolves are every passing stranger/ Every face we cannot know.”

BREATHE

By-the-numbers stadium-rocker in standard U2 mode, saddled with Bono’s rat-a-tat delivery of stream-of-consciousness beat-poetry, darting about from one non-sequitur to the next. It’s a big rock waltz in 6/8 time, introduced by Mullen’s tom-tom triplets and equipped with a dash of Zep’s sweeping ’70s rock swagger. Bono sings in a nasally high register, jabbering about Juju and travelling salesmen and cockatoos. It kind of makes sense given the title. But it still sounds bizarre. Key lyric: “I’m running down the road like loose electricity/ While the band in my head plays a striptease.”

CEDARS OF LEBANON

Bono puts himself into the mind of a weary war correspondent, in whose head random images of the war-torn country mingle with memories of his estranged partner, while soft arpeggios and snare drum are assailed by gentle electronic sounds and fragmentary speech samples. Unbelievable misspelling of “minaret” as “minorette” rather torpedoes assumptions of pan-cultural empathy. The mandatory closing ballad. Over a lazy, gauzy backdrop. Some glitchy textures add fever-dream overtones.  Key lyric: “Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you/ Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you.”

‘No Line on the Horizon’ is released on Mercury on 2 March