Familiar, and still entirely welcome, 'Ship To Wreck' won't win over new fans or exclude old ones.
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After the dark and driven ‘What Kind Of Man’, Florence + The Machine’s second single from How Big How Blue How Beautiful is a different beast. ‘Ship To Wreck’ is not written as a track that builds slowly; it leaps right from the first note into the chorus melody. The guitars, bass and electric, move the track along briskly, and keep it all upbeat. Yet there is a darkness to it to match the lyrics – the melodies all start higher than they finish, and are doom-laden.
Like many of her more upbeat tracks, Florence Welch’s vocals become more forceful, no less melodic, between verse and chorus. This is where ‘Ship To Wreck’ finds problems. It feels familiar. ‘What Kind Of Man’ was a statement; springy, energetic, and with some depth, this is just a memo.
‘Ship To Wreck’ is out on May 25th via Island Records.
