Florence And The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (Island Records)
November 16th, 2009
5.3/6.0
You’ve Got The Love by The Source seems to have magical powers. It granted Stateside soul diva Candi Staton a brand new following and revitalised her career. It made The Longcut sound great, instead of merely average. However, in Florence And The Machine’s hands, this Motelvision 2009* nominee is aural dynamite.
Far outstripping the vast majority of her (admittedly very good) debut album Lungs, this version comes the closest to the original in terms of its sheer power. The slight tinge of despair present in Ms Welch’s powerful vocals sends the track soaring into this Fugitive’s heart. And it’s tastefully orchestrated too, with bubbling snippets of harp and piano, plus a heart-stopping gospel choir passage about a minute and a half in. Long may the magic continue.
words: Kate Goodacre
*For those of you unfamiliar with the Fugitive Motel Review of the Year, the annual Motelvision Song Contest is a series of votes held between Fugitive Motel contributors to determine their song of the year.
www.florenceandthemachine.net
www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachinemusic
Kate Goodacre is a freelance writer and photographer, and the founding editor of The Fugitive Motel. Her taste in music has been broadened greatly by her co-contributors over the years that the site and the Motel collective has been in business. Kate likes pink lady apples, recycling, open-wheeled motorsport, the smell of a well-kept park, the Today Programme and that strangely invigorating stillness you get in a city early on any weekend morning.