Not saying anything, just, y’know, this…

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[4.75]

Katherine St Asaph: Had no idea a-ha was still around apart from literal music videos, but apparently this is their farewell single. They’ve still got it. The gurgling bass synth is clearly the work of decades of practice; although the vocals have sunken, too many guys never even get to this point. And if you’re going to sonically depict a butterfly, the strings toward the end are the way to do it: flitting in all a sudden, only to twitch their way to their end.
[6]

Jonathan Bogart: Has it really been twenty-five years? The only concession to popular music post-1995 is a bit of Chris Martin whine as he goes into the chorus; otherwise we may as well be in the Eternal ’85.
[6]

Zach Lyon: Buildings burn, people die, but a-ha is forever.
[2]

Martin Skidmore: It’s a pretty dull way to bow out — pleasant enough in a predictably old-fashioned way, but Harket’s voice doesn’t soar like it used to, and the medium-paced electropop does nothing interesting.
[5]

Edward Okulicz: As their career fades, their music fades to grey too, i.e. it sounds a bit like “Fade To Grey”. Actually the most 80s sounding thing they’ve done since the 80s; Morten Harket’s voice is, as always, a gorgeous instrument even when this is not one of their best melodies. What works here are the wisps of strings floating here and there. Though I wonder why, when the song’s called “The Last Hurrah”, it is pronounced “Hooray”. Oh Morten, you so crazy.
[7]

Mallory O’Donnell: Take away the fey vocal (it’s always a vicious internal struggle with irony as soon as this guy opens his mouth) and excessive Nordic melodic embroidery, and you’ve got a drum pattern and set of luxe, Oriental-esque synth and syn-string parts Depeche Mode would not be embarrassed by. Surely, that’s something.
[3]

Alfred Soto: I’ve belatedly acknowledged these guys are adored in most parts of the world where their thin Eurodisco commands attention. Thanks to Kylie and David Guetta, this should be their time for grand, creamy crossover semantic drivel. Instead, they craft a thudding anthem too close to U2 for comfort. Last hurrah, eh?
[3]

Jer Fairall: Elegant, gently melodic and thoroughly professional-sounding. Exactly what one who hadn’t paid attention since “Take On Me” (e.g., me) would expect a twenty-five-years-later a-ha to sound like, in other words.
[6]