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Florence & The Machine - 'You Got The Love'

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Fraser McAlpine | 12:55 UK time, Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Florence and the Machine

You've got to hand it to Florence, she's not easily intimidated.

Some people - and by 'people' I mean 'singers who are not participating in the X Factor' - would've found the idea of covering what is already a pretty damn perfect song to be a scary prospect. Some would've deliberately toned down some of the better bits - the melody, those monolithic piano chords - in order to prevent snarky comparisons between the better-known, much-loved version and this new attempt.

Others would've gone as quiet and acoustic as humanly possible, maybe making a big deal out of how the recording is 'live', and therefore bound to be subject to human error - but really catching a vibe off the original which is actually totally true to the spirit of what people really love about it in the first plaZZZzzzzzz

Hell, some people would've changed so much they'd have been justified in claiming it as an entirely new song, something I am sure goes on a lot. Why, only the other day I found myself blasting out some awesome tasty riffs on my axe - riffs which are only slightly similar to those of Nirvana - and coming up with an entirely original new song, the like of which has NEVER been heard before. A song which I am probably going to call 'Sells Like Tea Spit'.

(. I've heard of a , but this is ridiculous.)

My point being, Florence throws herself as wholeheartedly into this song as she does into the dressing-up box, and this is what being a good pop star is all about. A sparkling brass neck to go with those shiny sequins.

And the end result is very nearly brilliant. It has everything the original has - namely a heart as big as Chippenham, a sense of wounded pride, but also optimism, gritted teeth and a great big sack of devotion. Florence's elvish foghorn perhaps lacks some of the subtlety of Candi Staton's passionate wail, but that's OK.

It's just a question of emphasis. Candi sings as if she's been to hell and back, but knows she can rely on the Lord above, even if everything else in her life crashes down around her. With Florence it feels less spiritual and more earthbound, like she's singing to an actual man - or woodnymph - rather than God.

The down side is that she occasionally comes across more as vexed because she's left her purse in the park, which makes her MAAAD. But also HAAAPPPEEEE that her fella will bring it home on his way back from magic club.

Anyway, enough about Florence. Who wants to come and help me sing my brilliant - and entirely original - new song? Good, I thought so. It's all about a scary chef who loses his sense of smell, and can no longer cook soup. The chorus goes like this, join in when you feel confident:

"With his whites on, he's outrageous,
Eerie Arnold gets his wages
Evil stew pit, but courageous
Eerie Arnold's taking ages
Adenoidal
Adenoidal
Adenoidal (repeat until end)"

Oh. Just me then.

Four starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: November 16th

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(Fraser McAlpine)

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