Robbie Williams strips down his rollercoaster of a career in the soundtrack to his biopic Better Man. The reinvented tracks span Williams’ three decades in music, with sweeping, cinematic versions of his hits that should appeal to fans old and new. “There’s no new meanings for these songs, but what I’ve found is that I write autobiographically and I always have,” he tells Apple Music. “So, these songs make perfect sense, because as the traumatic event is unfolding, I get to sing about it. I get to do things on such a grandiose level, and it doesn’t escape me that being able to explain myself musically and verbally is such a gift that I’m very grateful for.” Williams lists the amped-up orchestral take on “Rock DJ” as his favourite song on the album. “I think the version in the film is better than the original,” he says. But there’s one career-defining song for both Robbie and his fans: his 1997 anthem “Angels”, which gets a slow-burn reboot on the soundtrack. “It gave me my career,” he says. “But also it’s kind of like a millstone around the neck because I’ve written 1,000 songs and I have yet to repeat the same thing that ‘Angels’ has done for me.” Seeing his life story come together in a film has been an emotional process for Williams and he still hadn’t come to terms with the results as it was released. “It feels like so many different things wrapped up in one. I’m not in the place right now to fully understand what it is and what it isn’t,” he says. “I think more will be revealed. I’m on the expectancy train right now, and it’s an audacious attempt to land myself in the hearts and minds of the world yet again, which may be met with success or failure. So I don’t know what it feels like. I’ve just sat on the precipice of liking myself or hating myself, as normal.” Williams was keen to make sure Better Man appeals to people who don’t like musicals as well as those who love them. “I don’t think the songs get in the way of the film at all—they’re perfectly placed where they are and how they are. I hope that these songs get a chance to shine again, to be discovered for the first time or rediscovered if you’ve wandered away. And I just hoped that they would be as good, if not better than the original.” The soundtrack closes with new song “Forbidden Road”, which Williams hopes will give comfort to people who’ve been through the emotional journey of watching Better Man. “The film is so triggering and traumatic and works on such a profound level—at the end of it, you need a hug,” he says. “So the best thing that I could do was come up with my own version of a musical hug, and that’s what ‘Forbidden Road’ is.”