Florence + The Machine – Never Let Me Go (YouTube)

“Never Let Me Go” is a song by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine from their second studio album Ceremonials. The song was written by Florence Welch and Paul Epworth while production was handled by Epworth. Island Records will release the song as the fourth single from the album on 2 April 2012. The band first premiered the song during one of their concerts before the release of the album on 15 October 2011. A Clams Casino remix of the song was placed on the 12″ white vinyl single which was available for pre-order on 22 March 2012.

Musically, “Never Let Me Go” is a downtempo power and piano ballad completed with piano and drums while backing vocals repeatedly sing “never let me go” throughout the song. Many critics noted similarities between the song’s composition and materials by other artists including Enya, Evanescence and Ryan Tedder-produced songs. The song received mostly positive reviews by critics who praised Welch’s vocals and its balladry nature.

An accompanying music video for the song was released online on 7 March 2012. It was directed by Tabitha Denholm and stars actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Welch’s love interest. The video features the pair together skating and shots of a dirty water trickling down Welch’s face and hands are shown. Upon the release of the video, critics praised Welch’s gothic look and the video’s dark atmosphere. Florence and the Machine added the song to the set list of their second worldwideCeremonials Tour (2011-2012) where the song was performed during the encore of the concerts along with “No Light, No Light“.