http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIi3wTkHMLI What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Well if that's a question impossible to answer with any accuracy, what I can say is that the collision would sound just like this, a maelstrom, the noise of the mutual breakdown of two mighty powers but basically, something's got to give. What makes this such a powerful heartbreak song is that it's a story told from two sides, it accepts mutual responsibility and jumps all around the stages of grief, it's angry, dismissive, pleading and denying all responsibility, but they're both at fault and it's over, well at least for the time being, but the sadness of the song is that it is potentially over forever. 'No light, no light' is summed up in the title, it's about the total darkness that the doomed lovers of this tale find themselves in. And the music is a relentless force. I could have chosen 'Cosmic Love' from Florence's back catalogue, but that sounds too sweet, and falls into bargaining and depression - this is anger, pure and simple, witness the line "I'd do anything to make you stay, no light, no light, tell me what you want me to say, you want a revelation some kind of revolution, but that's a conversation I just can't have tonight." What a rollercoaster of a song, lyrically and musically. Where the lovers will go, who knows, but given that the song ends with the line 'Tell me what you want me to say', my hunch is that it's going to end in yet more tears.
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash