Back in 2011 Beyoncé had released her fourth studio album which was shockingly called Four. From a large allocation of seven singles released throughout the latter half of 2011 and into 2012 of twelve that made up the album; ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ was one the album’s more successful tracks. It achieved a number three slot in the U.K singles chart and the song even got herself to number one in South Korea. It’s your typical  21st century piano ballad which Beyoncé is probably Queen of. The cascading piano is joined by the muted thump of the percussion and the chorus is ushered in by a razor-like power guitar riff and led out by the urgency of a string section. Like a lot of her songs, it is designed to showcase her powerful vocal ability and she duly delivers in hitting every rise, fall and peak.

Later on in the year, Southend-on-Sea’s The Horrors had turned up at Maida Vale studios for their turn on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge with the band still promoting their third studio album with Skying. In 2014, bassist Rhys Webb had talked of his admiration for artists such as Beyoncé and perhaps he picked out this track to cover back in 2011. Their version opens with a subtle angle of Joshua Hayward’s trademark guitar shred which is then collected by the more rapid and purposeful percussion and bass line as they speed up the tempo of the song compared to the original. On top of this is the muted oscillations of Tom Cowan’s synths and all of which is anchored down by Faris with his quaking, deep lying vocal. As the song progresses the guitar screeches and the synths grate of them. Independent of the driving bass and percussion. This version is a little more aggressive and expansive. What this version lacks in melody it makes up for with inventiveness as you would expect from The Horrors.