Tom: Our reader, Kirsten, sends this in, describing it as “a huge improvement on Jess Glynne’s previous singles”.
Tim: Oh this is interesting – can’t remember if I ever mentioned it, but I actually went to BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend this year, and I saw her perform this there.
Tom: This is the first time I’ve ever listened to a record and thought “that string section’s a bit much”. Have I reached Peak String Section? Is it just a bit too loud in the mix?
Tim: What? No, it’s fine. I mean, maybe it’s pushing the limits of how far any one instrument type will go before taking over, but, as we saw with Tove Ask’s track, there’s room for things to get far, far more out of hand.
Tom: Either way, this is a song begging to be used as the background to an inspiration montage on a talent show. That sounds a bit harsher than I meant it, I think: it’s a great track, the vocals are wonderful, and the message is wonderful.
Tim: Sounds harsh, maybe, but all the best songs are used on talent shows – disappointingly, no-one’s made a YouTube compilation of the number of times Snow Patrol’s Run has been used on The X Factor, though that might be because it’d break the length limit. In any case, you’re right, it could be used for that.
Tom: It’s just that I can already see the pre-appearance stock shots in my head, the subtle mix to the instrumental version as the editor cues up an interview section, and then timing it so that they start to walk out on stage just as the outro fires.
Tim: And shivers would be sent up every spine in the country.