!['Ship To Wreck': Despite its upbeat, buoyant (no pun intended) melody, 'Ship To Wreck' is a tale of self-destruction and regret. The desperate, apologetic poignancy in the bridge,]()
'Ship To Wreck': Despite its upbeat, buoyant (no pun intended) melody, 'Ship To Wreck' is a tale of self-destruction and regret. The desperate, apologetic poignancy in the bridge, "Oh my love remind me, what was it that I said?" evokes images of hazy, hangover blackouts and an irrevocably fraying relationship.
!['What Kind Of Man': The song's opening verse layers Welch's natural vocals with a heavily computerised, robotic harmony, which lurks, like a slightly sinister shadow, beneath the melody. Once the guitar riff kicks in and Welch once again proves her talent for anthemic hooks, that unsettling feeling lingers on.]()
'What Kind Of Man': The song's opening verse layers Welch's natural vocals with a heavily computerised, robotic harmony, which lurks, like a slightly sinister shadow, beneath the melody. Once the guitar riff kicks in and Welch once again proves her talent for anthemic hooks, that unsettling feeling lingers on.
!['How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful': When Welch opened her Radio 1's Big Weekend set with this, she gazed, mesmerised and visibly moved, at the setting sun and the vast crowd. Listening to the song on record evokes a similar sense of nostalgia (]()
'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful': When Welch opened her Radio 1's Big Weekend set with this, she gazed, mesmerised and visibly moved, at the setting sun and the vast crowd. Listening to the song on record evokes a similar sense of nostalgia ("Maybe I'll see you in another life / But this one wasn't enough"). The song is at its best when it's at its most simple - the explosion of brass, for once, is somewhat unnecessary - but it's still a richly textured delight.
!['Queen Of Peace': A relentless, stomping number that doesn't quite match up to what's come before it. Occasionally the insistent pace of this song's drum beat feels as if it's forcing the melody to trip over itself, and it threatens to become a little one-dimensional when the chorus starts repeating with very little tonal build-up.]()
'Queen Of Peace': A relentless, stomping number that doesn't quite match up to what's come before it. Occasionally the insistent pace of this song's drum beat feels as if it's forcing the melody to trip over itself, and it threatens to become a little one-dimensional when the chorus starts repeating with very little tonal build-up.
!['Various Storms & Saints': This track provides a welcome breather from the tonally overwhelming 'Queen of Peace'. Beginning with little more than a guitar and whispering violins, it heads languidly towards its climax and is all the more rewarding for it. It'll undoubtedly benefit from repeated listens.]()
'Various Storms & Saints': This track provides a welcome breather from the tonally overwhelming 'Queen of Peace'. Beginning with little more than a guitar and whispering violins, it heads languidly towards its climax and is all the more rewarding for it. It'll undoubtedly benefit from repeated listens.
!['Delilah': The first half of this song is pleasant - which, we suspect, is an adjective Welch would rather avoid at all costs. The moment her falsetto vocals surrender to a manic, syncopated second chorus though, all pleasantries are willfully discarded. Thank God.]()
'Delilah': The first half of this song is pleasant - which, we suspect, is an adjective Welch would rather avoid at all costs. The moment her falsetto vocals surrender to a manic, syncopated second chorus though, all pleasantries are willfully discarded. Thank God.
!['Long & Lost':]()
'Long & Lost': "Is it too late to come on home?" pleads Welch, her vocals echoing, siren-like over delicate guitar and a barely-there choir. Towards the end, the tentative optimism has given way to a crushing acceptance: "But it's too late to come on home."
!['Caught':]()
'Caught': "It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do to try and keep from calling you," admits Welch plainly, her usually American-lilted vocals sounding notably English - and thus strangely bare, pleadingly sincere. It's uncharacteristically understated, and presents a weary sort of melancholy.
!['Third Eye': Musically euphoric and lyrically brutal, this stirring anthem is pretty much guaranteed to have festival crowds gleefully singing,]()
'Third Eye': Musically euphoric and lyrically brutal, this stirring anthem is pretty much guaranteed to have festival crowds gleefully singing, "There's a hole where your heart lies" at the top of their lungs. It could do without the slightly Mumford & Sons-esque guitar strumming breakdown, but it's a heart-poundingly arresting highlight. "This song was written, I thought, for someone else", Welch recently told the crowd at a London warm-up show " but I think it might have been for me." We're inclined to agree.
!['St. Jude': It can be easy to forget, given Welch's penchant for transforming her vocals into forceful battle cries, that her voice is so hauntingly acrobatic - and can be so heartbreakingly subtle. 'St. Jude' is possibly Welch's most subdued, wistfully delicate song to date, and is one of the album's finest moments.]()
'St. Jude': It can be easy to forget, given Welch's penchant for transforming her vocals into forceful battle cries, that her voice is so hauntingly acrobatic - and can be so heartbreakingly subtle. 'St. Jude' is possibly Welch's most subdued, wistfully delicate song to date, and is one of the album's finest moments.
!['Mother': The song's funk-laced opening licks lull you into a false sense of calm, before its stomping chorus bursts in unannounced. There's more than a little Fleetwood Mac in the wobbly guitar riff that follows, and, vitally, a whole heap of Florence + The Machine at her jubilant best. A fitting conclusion.]()
'Mother': The song's funk-laced opening licks lull you into a false sense of calm, before its stomping chorus bursts in unannounced. There's more than a little Fleetwood Mac in the wobbly guitar riff that follows, and, vitally, a whole heap of Florence + The Machine at her jubilant best. A fitting conclusion.
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