And so your editor adored their previous album and thought that he should really put something off their new one in the Jukebox, regardless of whether or not it was actually a single. That was his first mistake…

[Myspace]
[4.33]

Dave Moore: Wow, it would take her a really long time to sing the Unbirthday Song. String backing by Arvo Part, singing by Sinead, harmonies by Imogen Heap. Would force myself to cry to it under the covers in the dark (BRB, gotta go feel) if I knew I wouldn’t feel like such a sap afterward.
[5]

Frank Kogan: Ms. Unthank sounds like she’s either instructing a child or taking her oral exams. The morose harmonies that the strings generate are what make me think I might return to this some dark-brown day, just to see.
[4]

John M. Cunningham: Maybe it’s that the barely adorned North Sea-accented voice is reminiscent of Dancer in the Dark star Bjork’s (with occasional hints of Chan Marshall’s rich alto), maybe it’s that the song’s bleak, melancholy tone puts me in the mind of Breaking the Waves (knowing, too, that the Unthank sisters hail from barren Northumbria), or maybe it’s just that the doleful, adagio string arrangement strikes the ear as inherently cinematic — but this would sound terrific on the soundtrack of a Lars von Trier film. Outside of that context, though, it’s a little tough to get close to.
[5]

John Seroff: Less a single and more a dirge, “At First She Starts” is an atmospheric middle without beginning or end. The sound is a mix of unplugged Massive Attack and gothed-out Rachelle Garniez (which makes me wonder if an accordion would be the thing to put this over the top); the mood is heavy, funereal and longing. Prince’s “Solo” is of the same kingdom, but that unyoutubeable gem benefits from The Purple One’s vocal versatility and hysterics whereas “At First” mostly sulks in a shivering heap. This is an excellent and welcome corrective for bubblegum overload but a bit too one-note to recommend unreservedly when you could just bite your tongue and hum “Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor” for the same effect.
[5]

Anthony Miccio: Agonized, glacial chamber-folk? You’re unwelcome.
[3]

Matt Cibula: tl;dl
[4]