Tim: Alumnus of Sweden’s The Voice, this is Nicole’s second single and comes with quite an aggressive tone.
Tim: I’m reminded slightly of Florence and the Machine – a voice that some people won’t like, a fair amount of ‘authentic’ instrumentation and a lack of much in the way of positive feelings.
Tom: Someone I knew once declared that while he liked The Machine, he couldn’t bloody stand Florence. Now I’m not in that group – and I think the vocals here work very well – but I can see why she polarises people.
Tim: That’s not a bad thing – it’s very competent, with a hook that I had running through my head for most of yesterday.
Tom: It’s one of those drastically simple hooks that sticks in your head. And while “competent” might seem to be a bit of an insult, it’s not: I can’t see this being on my regular playlist, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with it.
Tim: I’m not so sure about the video – while the lyrics go “conquer or suffer”, we have an image of the singer seemingly running away from something, which would imply she’s given given up on the first option. Oh well, LONG LIVE THE SUFFERING!