Florence and the Machine: Lungs
Florence and the Machine unleashes her brilliant Lungs
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By James Christie. |  |
Friday, 03, Jul 2009 03:07
Island, out July 6th.
In a nutshell...
The voice of 2009.
What's it all about?
The 13-song debut album from Florence and the Machine, produced by Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Friendly Fires, Jack Penate, Kate Nash), and including the singles Kiss With A Fist, Dog Days Are Over and Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up).
Who's it by?
Once a Camberwell College of Art student, 23-year-old Florence Welch was 'discovered' singing Motown in a nightclub toilet... well, if you believe the PR guff spun by Queenz of Noize 'DJ'/ligger Mairead, that is. Since her signing to Island Records, Florence and backing band the Machine have received the coveted Brit Critics' Choice, finished in the upper echelons of every 'ones to watch' list going and performed stunning sets at the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury Festival.
As an example...
"You hit me once/I hit you back/You gave a kick/I gave a slap/You smashed a plate over my head/Then I set fire to our bed." - Kiss With A Fist
"Happiness, hit her like a train on a track/Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back/She hid around corners and she hid under beds/She killed it with kisses and from it she fled/With every bubble she sank with a drink/And washed it away down the kitchen sink." - Dog Days Are Over
Florence & The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
She's already followed Adele in claiming the Brit Critics' Choice award before releasing an album but our Florence is far too exciting, expressive and versatile to be classified into a Grammy category. The Brits could be her domain, however, and don't rule out the Mercury.
What the others say
"Despite its dark heart, there's a real joy about this debut. It's the sound of someone who has found their voice and is keen to use it - as loudly and freely as possible." - Sheryl Garrett, Observer
"Florence says music is, 'at best a kind of magic that lifts you up and takes you somewhere else'. With vocals building from breathy almost-nothings to soaring, arching crescendos and the accompanying harps, strings, hopes and dreams, this album takes you somewhere you'll never want to come back from. When news gets out that she writes her best stuff, 'when drunk or hungover', Florence's transition from unknown to British classic will be complete." - Sophie Bruce, BBC
So is it any good?
Those 'next big things' lists haven't exactly proved themselves to be barometers of quality this year, with La Roux the only rising star to really live up to the hype. White Lies may have had a number one album, but will need a follow-up of Jack Penate-esque reinvention if they're to avoid to being pigeonholed while Sound of 2009 winner Little Boots missed the top ten with her debut single (partly thanks to the label picking one of her weakest songs). When the laughably over-exposed VV Brown has now been labelled a 'pop icon' by the Evening Standard without ever bothering the charts, it's clear that PR-fuelled polls ordering you who to listen to should be taken with a massive pinch of salt. Except in the case of Florence and the Machine, that is.
Fair enough, her first three singles grazed the lower echelons of the charts but with the radio-friendly soul of Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) debuting at number 12, maybe she can finally shoulder the hefty burden of expectation created by that pesky Brit.
Thankfully, she's got the goods to do so. While Little Boots never strays far from a classic disco-pop base and La Roux couldn't be more 80s electro if she tried, Florence's forebears tread far wider of the beaten track. The album takes in Kate Bush's theatricality, the bare-chested fury of Iggy Pop, Bat for Lashes' fantastical obsessions and an extraordinary vocal style that somehow encompasses Siouxsie Sioux, Sandy Denny and Patti Smith.
It's almost a pity the album begins with Dog Days Are Over, as it's tough to imagine how she could top this sweeping, dramatic effort that reveals everything you need to know about Florence in one fell swoop. It's dark, tempting and with a hair-raising habit of throwing you headlong into the storm after a merciful moment of calm. Florence caterwauls with far greater power than her delicate frame would have you believe while the Machine make great crashing, windswept soundscapes behind her.
That Bat For Lashes influence surfaces on Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), whose video perfectly captured its enchanted forest feel, before a thrilling but - after the ambition of the openers - somehow deflating return to the gin-soaked, stripped-down blues of her unsigned days. Animalistic and morbid imagery is strewn through the album, a welcome contrast to the undeniably impressive but sometimes overstuffed production, but on Kiss With A Fist and Girl With One Eye, the LP's notably sexed up. Thanks to Florence's full-blooded vocals and the Machine's thunderstorm support, both avoid feeling tawdry and register as alluring and pleasingly twisted efforts.
There are sumptuous choruses to be found in the chamber pop of Drumming Song and Between Two Lungs, a possible future single, while Hurricane Drunk and Florence's exhilarating cover of the Source's You Got the Love embrace heartbreak and bliss, first exclaiming "I'm gonna drink myself to death" before finding salvation.
Forget the polls and the PR and embrace one of the most talented and daring British artists to emerge in years.
8/10
Lewis Bazley