Florence and the Machine - Lungs

In Lungs, we see the debut from Florence and the Machine. The band is consisted of Florence Welch, a flame headed, pale girl with a monstrous voice, accompanied with a backing band who are sublime. They have consisted of various artists, one of which was Devonte Hynes of Lightspeed Champion, who sadly isn't in the current line up.

During the period in which Lungs was created and recorded, Florence’s style and recording quality develops dramatically because of a massive increase in popularity. Because of this we see her home-made recordings develop into huge, studio perfected tracks.

It’s difficult to pin a certain style on Florence, but she could be described as alt/rock or indie/pop. Genre aside, she bosses the stage with her fantastic voice and runs her gigs with amazing energy and charisma.

First release of the album, ‘Kiss With A Fist’, was released in 2008, promoting a home-made style recording, therefore unable to capture her huge voice on tape. This meant she stuck more to the typical alt-rock conventions, thumping drums teamed with raging guitars. But, with Florence’s voice, it adds new possibilities and an extra dimension to her performances. Back to the record which is still arguably the best record to date despite her later, popular releases. This is partly because it shows her as a bare bones artist, stripped of her festival appearances, increasing fan-base, high quality recordings, MTV session and everything else that comes with the package of being a popular artists.

Next release was Dog Days Are Over. This was the start of the development of Florence. You could tell by appearance for one. The video was a hell of a lot more advanced than the previous release, it was a more acting piece rather than a flouncing, jumping Florence. This song is also a building one beginning with rhythmic ukuleles, passing over claps and tambourines then adding thumping drums to complete the arrangement.

Rabbit Hearts (Raise It Up) was the third and in my opinion, sadly, one of the worst songs on the album. It may seem better than some of the others due to popularity, but the song is clearly the result of her rise in popularity. This, I would guess, is what she wrote immediately after she got some money in, because it’s irritating, her voice has been altered/supported too much (which there is really no need for with that voice), and features harps, pianos, and other instruments integrated into the tune. Experimental? Perhaps, but it didn’t deserve the credit or praise it received.

Drumming Song sees the artist float back down to earth a bit. But the difference is that this a fantastic song. It seems she’s passed the hype stage at this point, and uses her new fame to good cause. Less editing of her voice is apparent, the beat is in your face and only has a tambourine to make it ever slightly tame, but it doesn’t succeed. It’s menacing, dangerous and raw. Not only this, but the music video is a huge improvement, on Rabbit Hearts it’s an old fashioned, frilly dressed scene that would normally run alongside a girly pop video (Taylor Swift springs to mind), whereas Drumming Song is back to her usual (or rather unusual) quirkiness, creating an odd, striking video in a church.

The other songs on the album, perhaps seen as fillers, are more worthy of a better name. Tracks along the way consist of the emotional rollercoaster that is I’m Not Calling You A Liar, Howl’s eerie essence and the jerky old fashioned actress styling of Girl With One Eye. Track 8 is the breezy, chilled, holiday style and the aptly named Between Two Lungs. Cosmic Love’s gripping tune follows, next is the rise and fall of Hurricane Drunk and the final track is sex driven cover of Candi Stations’ 1986 You’ve Got The Love.

Lungs’ is a breath of fresh air amongst the charts; a solid first album. Watch this spot in the future!