Thrill 4-14: Look death boldly in the face {The Beekeeper}

If ever a song deserved its status as a title track, this is it. How could anyone dare to argue with it pushing to the front of the line?

The soft, faintly smiling album cover really doesn't give much of a hint what a serious, intense song lies behind it. But now I'm listening to that song as I type, and looking at the cover at the same time (which I don't think I've ever done before), and suddenly the photograph has a completely different feel to it.

I don't know if The Beekeeper is really the kind of song that anyone could claim to love hearing. It doesn't make any attempt to press the right emotional buttons for that to work. Instead, it seems to me, it's a song that commands respect.

There's plenty of reasons to respect it. Firstly, the lyrics are top notch. They match the best efforts from Scarlet's Walk in that they are poetic without being cryptic. It was nice of Tori to confirm that this song was about her mother's near-terminal illness, but it's also nice that it was possible to work out what the song was about without that information being provided.

The figure of the Beekeeper herself is a memorable one. Someone else picked up before I did the link to Tori's version of Time, both songs featuring a female angel of death, although I would say the new character is a slightly more formidable one (and she's explicitly written into the song, rather than relying on a photograph). I'm also a little reminded of the fisherman on Sting's The Soul Cages, which is no bad comparison in my book (although Sting's character is basically a heartless bastard in whose defeat we rejoice).

Musically as well there are some excellent touches. The low growls and the electronics really add to the texture of the song. I'm particularly taken by the way the guitar work in the 2nd and 3rd verses rises upwards at the end, only to break off.

Even better is the slight feeling of light and release for the lines where it is most appropriate - "She will awake Tomorrow Somewhere" and "Maybe I'm just passing you by" - coupled with the return to a darker melody for "One day I'll be coming for you". It really is extremely effective (in the last instance, quite chilling) and one of the best examples of marrying words and music I've heard in quite a while.

High marks, then, but don't expect me to be inviting the Beekeeper round for dinner anytime soon.