An Impressive Debut
Florence and The Machine’s time has long been coming. The band who released ‘Dog Days Are Over’ last year were a promising indie band fronted by a singer with an exceptional vocal range and depth. Since then the band have emerged as an all-round orchestral unit who have the power to create songs that border on gospel-inspired epics.
‘Lungs’ features a range of whimsical ‘Dog Days’ type tunes that have a real bluesy depth; take ‘I’m Not Calling You A Liar’ as the first example, it’s vocals are rich and its feel is overwhelming positive, while ‘Kiss With A Fist’ is a fractious burst of fun pop. The mix of colossal indie tunes and sweeter, more light-hearted numbers is kept fair to give each tune its maximum impact, although the more jolly tunes often feel a little like fillers between their more memorable neighbours.
‘Howl’ is a tense indie pop classic with splinters of keyboards smashing through the creamy vocal layer, and a tough and forceful percussive beat running through the heart of it all. Like ‘Rabbit Heart’, this is the kind of tune that’s going to cause a stir and really makes you sit up and listen. ‘Drumming Song’ channels the same intensity to create a multi-layered, engaging and engrossing tune that grows with power on each listen. There are also some interesting lyrics when you really start to listen, ‘My Boy Builds Coffins’ is an intriguing tune with a curious, repetitive vocal line. Lyrically ‘Blinding’ mines a variety of emotional reserves as its vocal harmonies crash over a delicate and suspenseful backing.
Although Florence’s vocals are one of the most impressive aspects of Florence and The Machine’s music, this band are not just the sum of their parts and ‘Lungs’ is testimony to the fact that they can produce interesting and intelligent indie tunes. ‘Lungs’ is a long album and there are plenty of tunes that could be described as fillers, but that doesn’t detract from the excellent numbers that constitute the main body of the album.