No Light, No Light

No Light, No Light
"No Light, No Light"
Single by Florence + the Machine
from the album Ceremonials
Recorded Abbey Road Studios
Genre Baroque pop, art rock, indie rock
Length 4:34
Label Island
Writer(s) Florence Welch, Isabella Summers
Producer Paul Epworth
Florence + the Machine singles chronology
"Shake It Out"
(2011)		 "No Light, No Light"
(2011)
Music video
"No Light, No Light" on YouTube

"No Light, No Light" is a song by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine from their second studio album Ceremonials (2011). The song was written by Florence Welch and Isabella Summers while the production was handled by Paul Epworth. Island Records will release the song as the third single from the album. An accompanying music video premiered on 18 November 2011 and it was well-received by music critics.

Contents

Background

"No Light, No Light" was written by Florence Welch and Isabella Summers while the production was handled by Paul Epworth.[1][2] The song was recorded in 2011 at the Abbey Road Studios.[2] According to Welch, "No Light, No Light" was the first song written for the album.[3] During an interview with MTV News she confirmed the release of the song.[3] Welch further revealed that the intro of the song was written during the tour in Amsterdam, "We had gone out for Rob [Ackroyd]'s birthday to an all-night restaurant in Brussels called Midnights. We went to this funny restaurant and then got on the tour bus and everyone was a bit drunk and it was like, 'Yeah, let's write a song.'"[3] Welch also said that "No Light, No Light" was also recorded in Amsterdam, "And we recorded the sound of the bus moving, a real drone-y bass sound, and that's the intro, and then the tour bus arrived in Amsterdam [and we were saying], 'Let's go toast this song! We will find a bar that will serve us drinks at 7 in the morning! Come!'.[...] So we trotted off into Amsterdam and managed to find a sports bar that would only serve us Midori. It was bright-green drinks and me and Isa [Summers] kind of looking like crazy old ladies."[3] During an interview with Los Angeles Times, Welch further described the song as "one of the biggest tracks on the album."[4]

Composition

The song begins with lyrics talking about fighting with snakes as stated by Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly.[5] Ryan Dombal of the website Pitchfork Media commented that "No Light, No Light" was one of the songs where Welch "sets aside her usual flighty, dreamy, goth-y lyrical go-to's-- ghosts, graveyards, devils, angels, myths, drowning-- for something a bit more personal."[6] During the musical bridge of the song Welch sings the lines "Would you leave me, if I told you what I'd become. 'Cause it's so easy to sing it to a crowd/ But it's so hard, my love/ To say it to you out loud."[6] Alix Buscovic of BBC Online compared the song with Florence and the Machine's earlier song "Cosmic Love".[7]

Critical reception

Ryan Dombal of the website Pitchfork Media praised the song, saying that the lines "double as a snippet of self-criticism."[6] He added: "Perhaps Welch finds it 'so easy' to sing her tunes to thousands because they often lack an individual touch that could send them even further skyward-- the same touch that comes so naturally to fellow UK chart queen Adele."[6] Spin's Rob Harvilla commented that "No Light, No Light" was "a desperate lovers' quarrel, all agitated strings and galloping drums (no broken jaws or burning beds this time, alas)."[8] Clash magazine's Laura Foster called the song "uplifting" and "typically Florence-sounding" further putting it in her list of "six massive anthems" on Ceremonials.[9] Alex Buscovic of the website BBC Online called "No Light, No Light" a "drum-chased, harp-gilded and hook-jawed" song.[7] However, Buscovic commented that its "epic proportions are too much."[7] Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times called the song an anthem, which according to him, was "as overpowering as 'Dog Days Are Over.'"[4] In his review of Ceremonials, Jillian Mapes of Billboard wrote "'I'd do anything to make you stay / Tell me what you want me to say,' she pleads atop the album's most pulsating tribal drumbeat. Musically, the song exudes utter strength; lyrically, Welch is on her knees."[10]

Music video

An accompanying music video for the song was released on Florence and the Machine's official Vevo account on 18 November 2011. A teaser was also uploaded on their Vevo account on 15 November 2011. In the video, Welch, who appears to be being controlled by a man holding a voodoo doll, falls from the building and into a church, only to be caught and held aloft by a group of choir boys.[11]

Marc Hogan of Spin concluded that the video, "touches on the fine line between spiritual ecstasy and reckless abandon."[12] Jillian Mapes of Billboard commented that the video is exploring a "territory between Christianity and voodoo spirituality."[13] Mapes further praised the video for being dramatic, but he wrote that "more than that, it's completely absurd."[13] A writer of Rolling Stone concluded: "[the video] does not shy away from matching the music's melodramatic intensity. In addition to contrasting overtly Christian iconography with images of some kind of voodoo priest, the harrowing climax is paired with footage of Florence Welch falling from the top of a skyscraper."[14] Writing for Dose, Leah Collins found "seriously life-threatening juju going on in No Light, No Light [video]"[15] Nick Neyland of Prefix Magazine wrote: "That song ["No Light. No Light"] just got a suitably opulent video, which is full or religious imagery, Florence perched atop a building in Manhattan, and a strange masked figure. What does it all mean? We have no idea, but anyone who's afraid of heights may want to look away when Florence starts flinging herself across that rooftop and ultimately takes to the skies and starts flying (seriously)."[16]

Live performances

The band performed the song live for the first time during the show Later... with Jools Holland on 1 November 2011.[17] Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone praised the performance saying: "Florence Welch is backed by her full band plus a string section, but as overwhelming as the sound gets, her incredible voice remains the focal point of the performance."[18] Later, on 20 November 2011, they performed the song on Saturday Night Live.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ Corner, Lewis (18 November 2011). "Florence Welch falls off skyscraper in 'No Light, No Light' video". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a351630/florence-welch-falls-off-skyscraper-in-no-light-no-light-video.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  2. ^ a b (2011) Release notes for Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine (liner notes). Island Records.
  3. ^ a b c d Montgomery, James (18 October 2011). "Florence And The Machine Reveal Next Single: Exclusive". MTV News. MTV Networks. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672740/florence-and-the-machine-no-light-single.jhtml. Retrieved 18 November 201. 
  4. ^ a b Roberts, Randall (27 October 2011). "On eve of 'Ceremonials,' Florence Welch talks about 'Breaking Down'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/10/on-eve-of-ceremonials-florence-welch-talks-about-breaking-down.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  5. ^ Anderson, Kyle (26 October 2011). "Ceremonials (2011): Florence + The Machine". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20540085,00.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c d Dombal, Ryan (3 November 2011‎). "Florence and the Machine: Ceremonials". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/16004-ceremonials/. Retrieved 18 November 2011‎. 
  7. ^ a b c Buscovic, Alix (27 October 2011). "Review of Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials". BBC Music. BBC Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/qwcg. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  8. ^ Harvilla, Rob. "Florence and the Machine, 'Ceremonials' (Universal Republic)". Spin. Spin Media LLC. http://www.spin.com/reviews/florence-and-machine-ceremonials-universal-republic. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  9. ^ Foster, Laura (24 October 2011). "Florence And The Machine – Ceremonials". Clash. http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/florence-and-the-machine-ceremonials. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  10. ^ Mapes, Jillian (2 November 2011). "Florence + The Machine, 'Ceremonials': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. New York: Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/features/florence-the-machine-ceremonials-track-by-1005465362.story. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  11. ^ "Watch Florence Welch fall off a skyscraper in new video for 'No Light No Light'". NME. IPC Media. 18 November 2011. http://www.nme.com/news/florence-and-the-machine/60474. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  12. ^ Hogan, Marc (18 November 2011). "Watch Florence + the Machine's Dramatic 'No Light, No Light' Video". Spin. Spin Media LLC. http://www.spin.com/articles/watch-florence-machines-dramatic-no-light-no-light-video. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  13. ^ a b Mapes, Jillian (18 November 2011). "Florence Welch Crowdsurfs Through Children's Choir in Epic 'No Light, No Light' Video". Billboard. New York: Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/lady-gaga-ready-to-go-for-headlining-tour-1003946983.story#/news/florence-welch-crowdsurfs-through-children-1005543752.story. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  14. ^ "Video: Florence and the Machine - 'No Light, No Light'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 18 November 2011. http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/new-and-hot/florence-and-the-machine-no-light-no-light-20111118#ixzz1eBsJSJpA. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  15. ^ Collins, Leah (18 November 2011). "Video: Florence + The Machine Dabble in Dark Arts For 'No Light, No Light' Clip". Dose. Postmedia Network. http://www.dose.ca/Video+Florence+Machine+Dabble+Dark+Arts+Light+Light+Clip/5732683/story.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  16. ^ Neyland, Nick (18 November 2011). "Florence + The Machine: "No Light, No Light" (Video)". Prefix Magazine. http://www.prefixmag.com/media/florence-the-machine/no-light-no-light-video/58790/. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  17. ^ Young, Alex (1 November 2011). "Video: Florence and the Machine, My Morning Jacket play Jools Holland". Consequence of Sound. Complex Media Network. http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/11/video-florence-and-the-machine-my-morning-jacket-play-jools-holland/. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  18. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (3 November 2011). "Video: Florence and the Machine - 'No Light, No Light' on 'Jools Holland'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/new-and-hot/florence-and-the-machine-no-light-no-light-on-jools-holland-20111103. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
  19. ^ Semigran, Aly (20 November 2011). "'Saturday Night Live' recap: Jason Segel hosted, while the Muppets, Paul Rudd, and Olivia Wilde popped up. Believe it!". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.. http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/11/20/saturday-night-live-recap-jason-segel-host/. Retrieved 23 November 2011. 
  20. ^ Spin Staff (21 November 2011). "Watch Florence + the Machine Play 'Ceremonials' Tracks, Turkey-Themed Rap-Fusion Song on 'SNL'". Spin. Spin Media LLC. http://www.spin.com/articles/watch-florence-machine-play-ceremonials-tracks-turkey-themed-rap-fusion-song-snl. Retrieved 23 November 2011. 
v · d · eFlorence and the Machine
Studio albums
Live albums
  • Live at the Wiltern
Extended plays
  • A Lot of Love. A Lot of Blood
  • iTunes Festival: London 2010
  • iTunes Live from SoHo
Singles
Concert tours
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