I really wasn't sure about the Calvin Harris and Florence Welch collaboration, Sweet Nothing. Being a fan of both Brits I was expecting to have fallen madly in love with it on first listen, and this not happening left me confused, ashamed and shaking uncontrollably.
However, time, and repeated exposure to the song, have somewhat warmed me to it. I was only hoping the Vincent Haycock directed video would turn up the heat on our thawing relationship. But that didn't happen.
The video for Sweet Nothing was unexpectedly gritty, girmey and ever so slightly intense with its graphic violence. As far as I can work out: Florence's character was in an abusive relationship with Mr Peroxide, Calvin Harris found out and ordered for him to be whacked- literally.
All of this plays out between shots of Florence exorcising her relationship demons on stage during her day job: singing at a seedy strip club. Either that or she's actually a stripper who undresses in a somewhat unconventional manner, and I've just read too much into it. You decide.
How the song goes with the video Lord only knows, but I have a sneaking suspicion they wanted to infuse the song with more substance than your typical dance track by giving it a pseudo-deep video with grown up themes. The problem is, it's pretty much just that: your typical dance track, with a great vocal.
Well it worked for Rihanna with her Calvin Harris produced track We Found Love, so why not for Florence.
I think the song is meh.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like it a lot. I was a little wary of the video, but I thought both Flo and Calvin did a great job. It was a bit shocking to listen to it and understand everything Florence sang, heh.
ReplyDeleteI like this song and I am loving all the tracks off of Calvin's new CD!
ReplyDeleteFlorence is distinctive enough to pull off this collab although I prefer her band's more distinctive sound. I can tell it is still her, but in some areas I feel Harris' beat is competing with her vocals, mainly in the chorus. Otherwise, the song is not terrible. It's much like electropop these days and it is good to see Flo continuing to try new things. With a little bit less percussion, I think it would be easier to connect to Florence's vocals while preserving the clubby spriit of the song.
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