Florence + the Machine - Lungs
By Nick Manteris · 1 Comments · Leave a Comment
Florence Welch is the first half of Florence + the Machine and the Machine part refers to whoever (or whatever) she decides should accompany her during her musical escapades. She describes herself as being “musically inept,” but that presumably applies to musical instruments because the things she does with her voice are definitely musical. Before Lungs, she had only released a few singles, but that hasn’t stopped the overwhelmingly positive public response. Florence and The Machine won the 2009 BRITs Critics’ Choice Award, came in third in the BBC Sound of… poll (right behind the two artists that she beat in the BRIT Awards) and Lungs has also been nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize. Not bad for a musically inept artist that posted the first blog entry on her MySpace Music page in mid-2007.
The album starts softly, but it’s not long before soft becomes a fleeting half-remembered notion. Florence sings with intensity and urgency that almost defies description…it’s something you just have to hear. Lungs is a suitable title that describes the singer’s ample assets as well as the predominant instrument on the album. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” and “Howl” are the standout tracks, but about half of the songs are almost on the same level. Songs like “Girl with One Eye,” “Drumming Song,” “Cosmic Love,” “My Boy Builds Coffins,” and “Blinding” are some of more original and entertaining music so far this year. The Deluxe Edition of Lungs is highly recommended as it also contains “Hardest of Hearts,” an exceptional track on the same level as “Howl,” and the Bayou Percussion version of “Girl with One Eye,” which is even better than the original.
The Florence + the Machine website claims that the album is made of “harps, choirs, drums, elevator shafts, bits of metal, love, death, fireworks, string quartets, stamping, sighing, strange electronic wailing, lambs, lions, SICK, broken glass, blood, moon, stars, drink, coffins, teeth, water, wedding dresses… and the silences in between.” This seems like an apt description for Lungs that should give you some idea whether you want to listen to it or not.
flo mach
i like this florence but i hate terminators...
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 18:10 · rodolfo saldana