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album reviews

Florence And The Machine



Lungs 7 ( 2009 )
Dog Days Are Over / Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) / I'm Not Calling You A Liar / Howl / Kiss With A Fist / Girl With One Eye / Drumming Song / Between Two Lungs / Cosmic Love / My Boy Builds Coffins / Hurricane Drunk / Blinding / You've Got The Love

The music industry is happy that we have so many new interesting female artists popping up right now, even if it currently seems that none of them have much new to say for themselves. Well, Florence And The Machine are essentially just Florence Welch, someone who apparently writes her best songs when drunk. Nothing wrong with that, i've often come up with many strange ideas after a night on the town. Florence has a voice pitched somewhere between Siouxsie Sioux and Sinead O'Connor. The music is heavily beat driven, but not programmed beats rather a kind of tribal drum sound last heard when Adam and the Ants were still going. 'Lungs' is fifty minutes and fifteen songs, fairly hefty for a debut album, it must be said. So, whilst opener 'Dog Days Are Over' is all strident and post-punk and breathless vocals, 'Rabbit Heart' seems to have been beamed straight from 1988 or so but at this stage, this early stage in the album, the voice of Florence Welch could already be helped if she didn't sing everything at absolutely the highest register her vocal chords will allow her to go. Mostly, the songs are good throughout, certainly consistent for a new artist and certainly just interesting enough to justify at least some of the hype the once great British music industry have thrown at her so far in an effort to get some kind of scene going that can generate much needed physical sales.

Highlights include 'Kiss With A Fist', a brief blast of rocky guitars and urgent rhythms and confused solos - all very good. 'Dog Days Is Over' is certainly striking enough to also rank as a highlight and then we have 'Drumming Song', perhaps summing up the entire albums sound. A cover of the popular dance hit 'You've Got The Love' is an utterly pointless addition to the album and songs such as 'My Boy Builds Coffins' are just too irritating lyrically and safe compositionally to really suggest that Florence Welch is anything more than a pleasant 2009 diversion. I'd liked to see her have a lengthy career but at the moment, I can't see that happening. 'Lungs' is ultimately not ambitious or daring enough to escape being a dinner party album for the remaining city slickers.

Share Your Views? / Message Board

Readers Comments King Ink Brighton When i heard the singles i was kind of hoping that the album was worth the hype, but sadly this is not the case, a shame really i would have liked a new kate bush... Tim United Kingdom I can't help but feel this review was a tad hard on a new group. Yes there are echoes of things past in the sound, and yes, I'm not a fan of covers - at all. But you do have to get the cash flowing before real creativity stands a chance.Personally, I reckon this is a cracking album.Lets hope something evolves here