Florence and the Machine: 'Heavy In Your Arms'

It's hard to think of a track whose sheen has been more dulled by ubiquity than Florence and The Machine's cover of 'You['ve] Got The Love'. By the time Wagner Fiuza-Carrilho gave his post-Flo take on the song at X Factor Judges' Houses, the genre-hopping, madcap brilliance of Lungs seemed to have long ago faded into black. Slowly slinking out from that shadow is 'Heavy In Your Arms', which featured on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack and now leads the my-God-have-we-not-wrung-this-bit-of-plastic-dry-yet-Christmas-cash-in reissue of Florence's debut LP.

It's a shame that her best single to date isn't fronting a brand new collection or EP, but that's quibbling really. A brooding mix of dark samples, twisted choirs and piano back Welch's almost spoken-word verses, leading up to truly ear-shattering choruses which sound unlike anything else in the charts right now. 'Heavy In Your Arms' combines the chills of a classic horror flick with the intensity of a tragic romance collapsing in on itself like a swirling black hole ("And he took me to the river / Where he slowly let me drown"). As well as the creepy brilliance of the finest pop video of the year, Ms Welch has come up with the best (metaphorical?) murder ballad since Nick Cave picked up a rock and bashed Kylie Minogue in the noggin.