While there is an argument to be had about Baz Luhrmann’s temerity in remaking “The Great Gatsby,” you’ll get no such reservations when it comes to Jack White’s scorching version of this U2 deep cut from the forthcoming soundtrack.
“Love is Blindness” joins cuts from buzzy acts like Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, Fergie and producer Jay-Z on the very modern Great Gatsby disc, due May 7, 2013 via Interscope. For fans of White’s 2012 solo triumph Blunderbuss, and that would include (ahem) us, this track was the must-hear moment, though.
He doesn’t disappoint. With a watery organ, a decayed backbeat, and a simply devastated vocal, White sets about simply dismantling the closing track from 1991’s Achtung Baby, until ultimately he’s descended into a howling mess — complete with a jagged, almost violent turn on the guitar. If Bono approached the lyric with a detached sense of heartbreak, White pulls the song’s hurt up close, then unleashes every bit of his rage, nose to nose.
The first one was numb — at least until the final solo, which found a recently separated Edge literally breaking strings during a a surprisingly naked show of emotion. White’s take, meanwhile, is dying from a thousand small cuts, and his solo (rather than going for catharsis) oozes very real anger.
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