Flo - 'Set In Stone'

Photo credit: Emi O'Connell

All swirl and no storm in ‘Set In Stone’ from the talented London-based singer-songwriter, Flo.

I swear music described as being cinematic has only existed since the third Coldplay album. I mean, masterpieces that could make show stopping moments in blockbusters would never describe itself as cinematic. "Hoppipolla", "Bohemian Rhapsody", the Jaws theme... Real moment enhancing musical accompaniments probably had such a modest upbringing rather than declaring that this is the song you're going to link to a particular moment for the rest of your life. London's Flo is unfortunately guilty of false advertising in this sense, falling short of something epic and sweeping and instead lands herself a perfectly pretty almost slacker-rock ballad, that encapsulates with its beauty but fails to leave anything more than a superficial imprint.

There are a lot of things to admire in this track. The production gives the song a very off-kilter feel that almost feels like the song is floating by in the breeze. It's built on a classic 70's ballad chord progression, Flo updates it straight into 2018 in a similar way that Matt Maltese and Father John Misty do- just the right amount of bleeping synths under a jangly soundscape that Courtney Barnett has been doing so successfully recently. But whilst Barnett barks and bites her way through her music, Flo purrs. You can almost see the smile whilst she plays this song to a rapturous open mic back drop. There are also some lovely guitar melodies subtly dovetailed between Flo's frankly adorable voice.

But whilst the picture is pretty and is an accurate description the beautifully mundane way we as young adults live our life and spend out time, it makes a fleeting impression. Whether that's to do with the production being too breezy or a melody being too  pretty, I can't pretend to be an expert (music is subjective for crying out loud) but despite the obvious skills of the songwriting, for me, something that makes it memorable just isn't there. This song will be well loved by many; floaty, dreamy, drift-away ballads are so in the market at the minute. And Flo is definitely a talent, no mistake in that. It's a question on how she can make that talent more provoking.

Words of James Kitchen