N&TW have always sounded like they are on the cusp of becoming a parody of themselves, like a folk version of The Darkness. Their first album was just on the shamelessly beautiful side of the barrier separating them from a place in the ukelele-filled rubbish-folk area of hell, and it was one of their debut's stand out tracks, the hymnal 'Give a Little Love', that they chose to open with in the intimate* setting of the Pure Groove record shop in East London.
The band seemed to have decided that the hymnal, introspective side of their music was perfect for the venue, as the new material they chose to showcase fitted into this mold. The worst of these was 'I Have Nothing', with 6th Form lyrics including 'I have nothing, I have no one... I love nothing, I love no one'. Fact: It doesn't matter if you're being clever about the freedom of oblivion and the emotional power of rebirth if your song is really boring.
On the other hand, 'Love of an Orchestra' is like the theme tune you would want to hear to a childrens' programme about adventures at a car boot sale. It's only short (you can find it at their MySpace) but is utterly, utterly perfect. Hopefully the new 'album and film' will be more focused on this than devastating nothingness.
* i.e. small and sweaty
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