ALBUM REVIEW: Lungs by Florence + the Machine

Ok, so here it is. After a storming live performance at Glastonbury, will Flo/Mac's album live up to the hype? Well I'll be honest- It could be better.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This album is a perfect example of the uniqueness that has propelled Florence and the Machine to such giddy levels of hype; Passion, harps, driving disco/rock beats and of course that amazing voice are all present and correct. The record pivots between stomping anthems with heart-beat drums ("Howl", "Dog Days Are Over"), bluesy ballads ("Girl With One Eye", "My Boy Builds Coffins") and the more radio friendly singles. It's also great to see "You've Got The Love" included here as a bonus track. I'm not going to suggest by a long way that her best song is a cover, but Miss Welch's voice is really amazing on this track.

Lyrically, it's strong, taking it back to an old school, story telling vibe. I guess that a lot of it is pseudo-fictional; wikipedia has a quote that claims she writes "stories with consequences and weird morality issues" and I'd say that kinda sums it up. In fact that's why I used it. Clever that, eh?

One special aspect of this album, is that it conceals among it's singer/songwriter, bluesy, harp-laden song-smith-ery a fair few tracks that can only be described as "party anthems". I certainly wouldn't complain if the DJ dropped "Kiss With A Fist" or "Hurricane Drunk" on my booze-y night out.

So far, so good. And before I start to say anything negative I want to qualify this. This album is good, and my grumbles are because it doesn't grab you by the collar and nut you with its awesomeness in the same way as the live show. An album this hyped, from such an exciting band, should be an immediate classic. And yet on my first listen, it didn't thrill me.

This is the heart of the matter. After such an electric set, you would expect the album to really jump out at you. But instead it falls limply into the slightly over-crowded category of "Growers". I'm gunna choose to blame the production. Reading the album's sleeve notes is quite a job... So many producers have been involved in the recording of this album, which in turn was recorded in quite a few different places.

Usually, a band does a debut album in 3 weeks or less, in a tiny studio with the biggest name producer they can find, and yeah, maybe it works for some bands to have the leisure of time and a bigger budget, but I don't think Florence and the Machine are one of those bands. The focus and excitement that the band convey live seems diluted on this record, and it's such a shame.

And so, I reach the end of the article. I suppose a summary might be a good idea? Ok. This album is good, you should check it out and maybe you'll grow to love it. But if you want the REAL Flo/Mac experience, get down the show. You won't be disappointed.

Cheers.
Chris/Audio Bigot
xx

p.s. Check out Jamie T's remix of "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)". It goes a long way to being better than the original.